The U.S. truck freight market contracted significantly during the first three months of 2024, according to figures from the latest U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index, released Wednesday.
That trend came as spending by shippers decreased 27.9% in the first quarter compared with the same period in 2023 and was down 16.8% compared to the fourth quarter of 2023. Meanwhile, shipments dropped 21.6% from a year prior and 7.8% from the fourth quarter of 2023.
“While there was hope for a freight market turnaround to start the year, our data shows that the challenges continued,” Bobby Holland, director of freight business analytics, U.S. Bank, said in a release. “Nationally, this was the eighth straight quarter of year-over-year volume decreases and the fifth straight with a drop in spending.”
Regional data showed how widespread the current challenges are for the truck freight market, as with the exception of the Southwest – which had a quarterly increase in volume – all regions had significant declines in shipments and spending. The most severe contraction was in the Northeast, where spending dropped 34.8% year-over-year and shipments fell 33.9%.
“Spending fell disproportionately to the drop in volume, which suggests downward rates pressure to start the year,” Bob Costello, senior vice president and chief economist at the American Trucking Associations, said in the report. “Truck capacity remained above the amount of freight available. The degree to which this mismatch shrinks or expands will be important to watch throughout the year.”
