Truck freight market sees slow recovery after 21% drop in shipments, spending

Challenges remained for the truck freight market as shipments and spending indices dropped 21% year over year during the third quarter of 2024, according to a recent report by U.S. Bank.

The U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index Q3 2024 showed that while there are positive signs for the freight market to recover from continued downward pressure, the results indicated that any recovery will be slow.

After the largest reductions in truck freight volumes in the second half of 2023 and the first quarter of this year, the sequential decline continued in Q3 as shipments decreased 1.9% after a 2.2% drop in the second quarter. Meanwhile, spending also dropped 1.4%. 

“The latest data continues to show some positive developments for the freight market. However, there remain sequential declines nationwide, and in most regions,” said Bobby Holland, U.S. Bank director of freight business analytics in a news release. 

“Over the last two quarters, volume and spend contractions have lessened, but we’re waiting for clear evidence that the market has reached the bottom.”

The decline in shipments marks its ninth consecutive quarterly decrease in volume, but the smallest decline in more than a year, according to U.S. Bank. 

“It’s a positive sign that spending contracted less than shipments. With diesel fuel prices lower, the fact that pricing didn’t erode more tells me the market is getting healthier,” said Bob Costello, senior vice president and chief economist at the American Trucking Associations.

The U.S. Bank data also showed that truck freight conditions by region varied greatly during the third quarter.

Spending was up 4.4% over the previous quarter while volume increased 1.1% in the West. In the Southeast, meanwhile, spending declined 3.3% and shipments went down by 3%.