Trucking Industry News

October 2023 Insights

• US. Container Imports surge (source: Descartes System Group)
  • September container imports hit 2.2M TEU’s, a 27% increase from February’s low mark.
  • Those figures were higher than expected, measuring 8% higher than 2019 figures and 15.5% higher than 2017.
  • Container imports from China made up 39.3% of the total, their highest share since August of 2022.

• Record-breaking September at Long Beach (source: Supply Chain Dive)
  • Imports rose 19% year over year to 408,926 TEUs, while exports declined 10% to 101,248 TEUs.
  • It’s the Port’s first monthly year over year cargo increase in 14 months.

• The Manufacturing sector contracted in September for the 11^th consecutive month. This follows 28 months of growth, prior to the 11 month drawdown. (source: Institute for Supply Management)
  • The Manufacturing PMI marked in at 49.0, up 1.4 points from the previous month.
  • New Orders hit 49.2, 2.4 points higher than August.

• The Services sector expanded in September, the ninth month in a row. (source: Institute for Supply Management)
  • The Services PMI measured 53.6, slightly lower than August’s 54.5, but higher than July’s 52.7.

• The September Cass Freight Index was mixed this month. (source: Cass Information Systems)
  • The Expenditures portion receded slightly from August’s 3.459 to 3.452, while shipments grew slightly from 1.143 to 1.163.

• Retail sales went down in September. (source: US Census)
  • Retail sales peaked in August, with this decline bringing the index back in line with June and July.

• The ATA reports that trucking tonnage has jumped over 3 points from August to September. (source: American Trucking Association)
  • Tonnage is still down year over year but continues to be higher month over month.

• Fuel jumps to $4.545 a Gallon (source: S. Energy Information Administration)
  • The price of diesel has jumped $0.156 in the past month, but on average still costs $0.796 less than it did at this time last year.