Industry Pulse: Continued trucking growth confirms freight recovery

Although September trucking shipments decreased 0.9% MoM, shipments increased 3.2% YoY, the highest for September since 2014, the Cass Freight Index reported last week. Trucking expenditures also increased 0.3% MoM and 4.6% YoY. According to the index, September 2017's shipments weren't quite as high as September 2013, but "the nominal value index chart makes it easy to note that 2017 shipment volume overall is stronger than 2013." August benefited from the hurricane activity, but according to the index, so did September, "especially in the flatbed trucking segment." The index also highlighted that "parcel volumes associated with e-commerce continue to show outstanding rates of growth, with both FedEx and UPS reporting strong U.S. domestic volumes."