The Cass Freight Index®

Get the latest insight into North American freight volumes and expenditures with the industry's most trusted source of data.

See the Latest Report

A Measure of North American Freight Volumes

Since 1995, the Cass Freight Index® has been a trusted measure of the North American freight market. Our monthly data and the Cass Transportation Index Report provide valuable insight into freight trends as they relate to other economic and supply chain indicators and the overall economy.

Data within the Index includes all domestic freight modes and is derived from 36 million invoices and $38 billion in spend processed by Cass annually on behalf of its client base of hundreds of large shippers. These companies represent a broad sampling of industries including consumer packaged goods, food, automotive, chemical, medical/pharma, OEM, retail and heavy equipment. Annual freight volume per organization ranges from $40 million to over $2 billion. The diversity of shippers and aggregate volume provide a statistically valid representation of North American shipping activity.

Read our monthly report, typically released on the 13th of the month, for analysis and commentary on the Cass Freight Index, the Cass Truckload Linehaul Index®, and the current state of the freight market.

 

Cass Freight Index Shipments February 2024

 

Cass Freight Index Expenditures February 2024

 

A simple calculation of the Cass Freight Index data (expenditures divided by shipments) produces another data set, Cass Inferred Freight Rates™, that explains the overall movement in cost per shipment. The data set is diversified among all modes, with truckload (TL) representing more than half of the dollars, followed by less-than-truckload (LTL), rail, parcel, and so on.

 

Cass Inferred Freight Rates February 2024

 

Download the data or read the full analysis.

Receive Index updates straight to your inbox

How the Index Works

The Cass Freight Index uses January 1990 as its base month. The index is updated with monthly freight expenditures and shipment volumes from the entire Cass client base. Data represents the month in which transactions (invoices) are processed by Cass, not necessarily the month when the corresponding shipments took place. The January 1990 base point is 1.00. The Index point for each subsequent month represents that month’s volume in relation to the January 1990 baseline.

Each month’s values are adjusted to a 21-day work month and to compensate for new and lost business. These measures ensure a sound basis for ongoing monthly comparison.