Cass Freight Index: Cass Freight Index
A monthly benchmark of North American freight shipment volume and spend, indexed to January 1990.
The Cass Freight Index is published monthly by Cass Information Systems from freight invoice data across its client base of large shippers — tens of millions of invoices and tens of billions of dollars in freight spend a year. It has two components: the Shipments Index (number of for-hire freight shipments across all domestic modes) and the Expenditures Index (total dollars spent, contract and spot combined), both indexed to a January 1990 baseline of 1.00.
Who publishes it
Cass Information Systems, monthly.
How to read it
- Both indices are relative to the January 1990 baseline (1.00) — read the trend, not the absolute number.
- Shipments Index tracks volume; Expenditures Index tracks total dollars spent — rising expenditures with flat shipments means rates are climbing, not demand.
- Values are adjusted to a standard 21-day work month so months are comparable.
- Because it spans all domestic modes, it's a broader (if less real-time) read than truckload-only indices like OTRI or NTI.
Why it matters
Cass is one of the longest-running, most-cited macro freight benchmarks because it's built from actual invoices, not survey responses or a single carrier's book. Economists and freight analysts use the Shipments-vs-Expenditures spread as an early signal of whether a rate cycle is being driven by demand or by capacity tightening.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between the Cass Shipments Index and Expenditures Index?
The Shipments Index counts the number of for-hire freight shipments across all domestic modes. The Expenditures Index totals the dollars spent on those shipments. Comparing the two shows whether spend is rising because more freight is moving or because rates are higher.
Is the Cass Freight Index specific to trucking?
No — it covers all domestic freight modes represented in Cass's client invoice data, including truckload, LTL, intermodal, and rail, which makes it broader than truckload-only indices.
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