Trucking news and briefs for Tuesday, May 2, 2023:
The volume of freight shipments moved via truck declined in the first quarter of 2023 by 6.1% year-over-year, according to the latest U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index – the fourth consecutive quarter where volume has contracted on an annual basis.
The drop was most intense in the Southeast, West and Northeast regions, where volume fell 16.1%, 14.1% and 13.8%, respectively. Shipments fell just 2.4% year-over-year in the Midwest, but the region has experienced contracting volume for 12 straight quarters. Meanwhile, shipments in the Southwest region increased 14%, the region’s largest year-over-year increase since early 2018.
“This quarter was a prime example of how important it is to examine regional data when assessing truck freight shipments in the U.S.,” said Bobby Holland, director of freight data solutions at U.S. Bank. “Boosted by growing truck-transported trade with Mexico and increased activity at the Port of Houston, truck freight activity in the Southwest region is markedly different than what we’re seeing in other regions.”
Nationwide spending on truck freight fell just 0.3% year-over-year driven by an 8% year-over-year spending drop in the Midwest. Spending rose in all other regions, including by 16.7% annually in the Southwest and 7.8% in the Southeast.
Bob Costello, senior vice president and chief economist at the American Trucking Associations, noted that the spending data seen in the South is more evidence that there is real trucking supply tightness there, while the Midwest is experiencing the opposite.
West
Shipments
Linked quarter: -2.8%
Year over year: -14.1%
