Guide to Trucking
Special Report
‘ Who’ s buying this stuff?’
US truck pricing soars, aided by frontloading, capacity cuts
By William B. Cassidy
US truck transportation pricing is outpacing demand, although there are signs that freight volumes may pick up in the coming months, supporting even higher prices. However, it’ s not clear where that volume will come from, and whether it will represent new freight demand or a shift of existing demand across maps and calendars.
Close to the action at ports, rail yards, truck terminals and warehouses, demand seems stronger. Carriers report more shipments from existing and new customers.
US imports from Asia in May rose 13 % from April and almost 20 % year over year, according to PIERS, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S & P Global. That’ s almost 20 % higher than in May 2025, although the comparison is skewed by the US tariffs imposed in April that year that sent imports sharply lower.
But a few steps back from the dock, third-party logistics providers looking across supply chains aren’ t seeing that much actual demand growth.
“ We’ ve seen oscillations in freight demand because of market disruptions and seasonality, but demand has been relatively flat across the whole ecosystem,” said Marc Schaffer, principal economist at Breakthrough.
Breakthrough’ s Freight Demand Indicator, an index based on $ 35 billion in shipper invoices, dropped 0.2 % in April, but is expected to climb 1.5 % by the end of 2026.
The Cass Freight Shipments Index shows year-overyear“ shipment declines” slowing. In annualized terms, the index dropped 1.2 % in May after falling 4.4 % in April.
Sequentially, the shipments index, which tracks volumes moved by truck, rail and parcel carriers, rose 3 % in May, the fourth consecutive monthly increase, Cass said.
Another measure of volume, the American Trucking Associations( ATA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index, was stable in April, with seasonally adjusted volumes unchanged from March. Year over year, the seasonally adjusted ATA index was up 3.5 %.
Some of that growth may be attributed to higher US
28 Journal of Commerce | July 6, 2026 www. joc. com