A Producer Price Index for long-distance TL general freight reported a rocky Q4 but notably improved in December.
Receding prices hit the industry as a whole for most of Q4 before flipping the last month of 2024, according to year-over-year monthly changes in the index, released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Tuesday. The index was 178.045 in December, up from 176.596 a year ago.
The index shifts show the lower rates that shippers enjoyed are changing — at least in line with seasonal expectations. Metrics such as contract rate replacements as well as spot rate premiums showed continued tightening in December, DAT Group Product Manager Chad Kennedy said on a market update Tuesday.
PPI bounces back into growth
The index reflects prices that businesses receive from goods, as opposed to what consumers are paying. But the good news comes amid a backdrop of uncertainty regarding potential policy shifts, financial policy leaders note.
“Trucking demand in 2025 will be strongly determined based on government policies and legislation (mass deportations, tariffs, deregulation, and business tax cuts),” Michigan State University supply chain management professor Jason Miller also wrote on LinkedIn Tuesday.
The American Trucking Associations’ tonnage tracker showed fluctuating shifts throughout 2024. Analysts expect the trucking market to slightly improve in 2025, but stakeholders have noted caution in moving forward.
