Economic Insights White Paper January 2026
Executive Overview
We hope you find this month’s transportation update helpful as we head into 2026. December’s indicators point to a freight market that’s still demand-soft overall, but with tightening showing up in select transportation pockets as inventories moved downstream and networks reset. Capacity remains generally available, though winter weather and regional imbalances can still create short-lived service risk and cost volatility.
As always, feel free to pass this along to others who keep an eye on the freight market. And if you know someone who could benefit from partnering with us, we’d be grateful for the introduction. Referrals are the highest compliment we can receive.
U.S. container imports totaled 2,227,316 in December
Source | Descartes
- Month over Month: +2.0%
- Year over Year: -5.9%
Key Drivers:
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Typical post-November stabilization lifted volumes modestly
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China-origin imports continued to weaken while Southeast Asia gained share
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Port conditions improved across East/Gulf Coasts; West Coast share increased
Top 10 U.S. ports:
- Los Angeles: +9.2%
- Long Beach: +2.2%
- Oakland: +7.3%
- Savannah: +1.7%
- Charleston: +4.0%
- Norfolk: +1.5%
- Philadelphia: +32.4%
- New York/Newark: -7.6%
- Houston: -5.2%
- Tacoma: -3.1%
Logistics Managers’ Index (LMI) Registers at 54.2
Source | the-lmi.com
- Month-over-Month: 54.2 (-1.5)
- Inventory Levels: 35.1 (-17.4)
- Inventory Costs: 62.9 (-8.1)
- Warehousing Capacity: 61.2 (+6.4)
- Warehousing Utilization: 42.9 (-4.7)
- Warehousing Prices: 66.2 (+3.3)
- Transportation Capacity: 36.9 (-13.1)
- Transportation Utilization: 58.2 (+6.7)
- Transportation Prices: 66.7 (+1.8)
U.S. Manufacturing PMI® Contracts to 47.9
Source | ISM.com
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New Orders: 47.7 (+0.3)
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Production: 51 (-0.4)
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Employment: 44.9 (+0.9)
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Supplier Deliveries: 50.8 (+1.5)
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Inventories: 45.2 (-3.7)
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Customers’ Inventories: 43.3 (-1.4)
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Prices Index: 58.5 (0.0)
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Backlog of Orders: 45.8 (+1.8)
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New Export Orders: 46.8 (+0.6)
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Imports: 44.6 (-4.3)
U.S. Truck Tonnage Index Reports at 111.3
Source | Trucking.org
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Month-over-Month: -1.1%
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Year-over-Year: -3.2%
- Not Seasonally Adjusted: 108.8 (-0.9% MoM)
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Key Drivers:
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Factory output softness continues to cap freight volumes
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Private fleet growth remains a headwind to for-hire demand
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Market remains lane-driven, with pockets of strength rather than broad acceleration
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Cass Freight Index®
Source | Cassinfo.com
Shipments: 0.932
- Month-over-Month: Down 7.2%
- Year-over-Year: Down 7.5%
Expenditures: 3.101
- Month-over-Month: Down 1.9%
- Year-over-Year: Down 0.6%
Key Drivers:
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Winter storms disrupted networks and pulled volume timing forward/back
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Shipments declined faster than spend, signaling higher cost-per-shipment mix effects
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Overall demand remains below last year even as short-term volatility persists