Monthly North American freight indicator published by Cass Information Systems. Shipments track volume; Expenditures track dollars spent on freight. Both are indexed to January 1990 = 1.000 and drawn from Cass's payment processing of more than $48 billion in annual freight transactions.
YoY shipments
-0.2%
vs. same month last year
Source: TruckRadar composite
The Cass Freight Index, published monthly by Cass Information Systems, tracks the health of North American freight activity using billions of dollars of freight payments that Cass processes each year. The series has two components: Shipments measures the volume of freight moves and Expenditures measures total dollars spent on freight, each indexed to January 1990 at 1.000. Fleets and brokers read Shipments as a demand gauge, while Expenditures captures rate plus fuel plus accessorials. As of the 2026-04 reading, Shipments stands at 1.089 and Expenditures at 2.711, with Expenditures down 3.0% year over year. Because directional shifts in Shipments typically lead truckload spot-rate prints by roughly 60 days, dealers use it as a forward read on used-truck residual pressure and fleets use it to time contract-lane bids, driver recruiting, and equipment orders.
Government series
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The Cass Freight Index is a monthly North American freight indicator published by Cass Information Systems, based on the more than $48 billion in annual freight payments Cass processes. It comprises two series: Shipments (volume) and Expenditures (dollars spent on freight). Both are normalized to a January 1990 base of 1.000.
Cass publishes the report monthly, typically during the second week of the month, covering the prior month's activity. TruckRadar.AI refreshes this page within days of each Cass release.
The Shipments component is a clean read on demand for truckload capacity, and expenditures reflect both volume and the per-shipment cost trend. Directional moves tend to lead truckload spot-rate prints by roughly 60 days, giving fleets a window to adjust pricing and dealers a forward read on used-truck residual pressure.
When expenditures rise faster than shipments, per-shipment cost (rate plus fuel plus accessorials) is expanding. That pattern typically coincides with tightening truckload capacity and firming contract rates. The inverse pattern, where shipments hold but expenditures fall, signals discounting pressure and is usually bearish for carrier margins.
The series extends to January 1990 as the reference base of 1.000. TruckRadar.AI displays the trailing 24 months here; the full archive and methodology notes are available from Cass Information Systems.
The Shipments and Expenditures series published by Cass are not seasonally adjusted, which is why year-over-year percent changes are typically the most useful comparison rather than month-over-month.