The Producer Price Index for for-hire long-distance trucking measures the contract pricing power of U.S. carriers. Truckload (TL) and less-than-truckload (LTL) series, monthly, via BLS through FRED.
TL month-over-month
+1.88 pts
vs prior month
Source: TruckRadar composite
The Producer Price Index (PPI) tracks the average change over time in the selling prices received by domestic for-hire carriers for transporting freight. PCU484121484121 covers truckload (TL) long-distance services, while PCU484122484122 covers less-than-truckload (LTL). Both are indexed with a base of 100, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes monthly prints.
PPI captures contract and negotiated freight pricing, including surcharges, weighted across the for-hire market. Spot indexes like DAT and Truckstop capture load-board transactional rates on shorter windows and reflect swings in daily capacity. PPI trails spot by roughly one quarter and is the better proxy for contract-lane budget planning.
A rising PPI supports holding or increasing contract rates at bid season. A sustained decline signals shipper leverage and pressure to concede. Year-over-year PPI movement roughly two percentage points above inflation indicates real pricing power; below inflation implies margin compression for carriers.
Truckload pricing is more capacity-sensitive and cyclical — it moves with spot market tightening. LTL pricing is more terminal-network-dependent, slower to move, and more inflation-anchored because fixed costs dominate. LTL PPI typically lags TL PPI by two to four months at cycle turns.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes the full PPI on the second Thursday of each month, covering the prior month's data. TruckRadar.AI mirrors the FRED series and refreshes this page on the monthly publication cycle.
As of 2026-03-01, the BLS Producer Price Index for for-hire long-distance truckload freight reads 185.2, up 11.7% year over year, while LTL tracks up 7.2%. Because PPI captures contract and negotiated rates (not spot), it is the better budgeting proxy for fleets pricing bid lanes and for dealers calibrating used-truck resale expectations against carrier profitability. Sustained PPI rises above general inflation indicate real pricing power; declines below it signal shipper leverage and margin compression. Brokers watch TL PPI as a confirmation signal, not a leading one — directional changes follow spot by roughly one quarter.