U.S. freight rates increased 28% year over year, but declined almost 2% month over month in July, a likely signal that the U.S. market has reached peak freight rates, according to the July Cass Freight report, just as peak shipping season encompassing both the return of school and the holidays begins, CNCB reports.
“We’re coming into this peak season with much more free capacity. I think that’s going to be a good thing from a cost perspective for those big retailers who have been struggling with a lot of cost inflation,” Cass Freight report researcher and author Tim Denoyer told CNBC.
Freight moved by companies increased by 0.4% year over year, according to the report, but declined nearly 2% month over month.
Even with shipments flattening, demand remains elevated over pre-pandemic levels, and U.S. logistics companies, especially trucking companies, should continue to see strong pricing power, according to Denoyer. The COVID-19 crisis led many independent truckers to leave the industry, and, in 2021, the American Trucking Association released a report saying the nation’s trucker shortage reached a record 80,000. Read the full story.
