U.S. Truckload Rates Jump 11.3% as Freight Shipments End 42-Month Decline

The U.S. freight market delivered a number in August that trucking companies and drivers have been waiting a long time to see.

Truckload linehaul rates increased 11.3% from a year earlier, while freight shipments finally returned to positive annual growth, according to the latest Cass Transportation Index.

The Cass Truckload Linehaul Index reached 153.9 in August, up 0.7% from July. The measure tracks the base price of truckload transportation and excludes fuel and accessorial charges, giving a clearer view of what carriers are receiving for the actual movement of freight.

The 11.3% annual increase was the 20th consecutive year-over-year gain in truckload linehaul rates and the largest increase since June 2022, according to FreightWaves. Contract pricing carries significant weight in the index, although spot-market loads are also included.

The bigger surprise came from freight volume.

Cass reported that shipments increased 2.1% compared with August 2025 and jumped 5.6% from July. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the monthly increase was 5%.

That ended 42 straight months of year-over-year declines, with August posting the first annual increase since January 2023. Cass described that stretch as the longest downturn recorded by the index.

For truck drivers and carriers, rising rates combined with higher shipment volumes can mean more opportunities to move freight. But the August numbers do not necessarily mean the freight recession is completely over.

Cass cautioned that the monthly increase largely reversed declines recorded during June and July, saying it was too early to call the result a major improvement in freight demand. If normal seasonal patterns continue, shipments could be roughly 1% higher year over year in September.

Money spent moving freight also increased sharply. The Cass Freight Index for expenditures climbed 18.7% year over year and 5.8% from July. FreightWaves reported that higher shipment activity and rising diesel prices contributed to the increase.

The numbers are especially important for small fleets and owner-operators that have spent years dealing with weak freight demand, lower spot rates, expensive equipment, insurance and operating costs.

Truckload transportation represents more than half of the shipments included in the Cass data, making the index closely watched by trucking companies, brokers, shippers and logistics businesses trying to determine where freight rates are heading next.

August did not bring a freight boom. It did, however, bring something the U.S. trucking market had not seen in three and a half years: more freight than the same month a year earlier, while truckload pricing continued moving higher.