Tallies, totals and other trend data in the freight transportation realm (5/29/2026)
5/29/2026
-18.9
FTR’s Shippers Conditions Index for March fell to -18.9, reflecting "exceptionally harsh market conditions driven primarily by the sharp rise in fuel costs," FTR officials announced on May 15. “Only once in the SCI data, which dates to 2000, did the index suggest more unfavorable overall conditions for shippers than in March," added FTR Vice President of Trucking Avery Vise. "We expect market conditions to stabilize over the next quarter or so, but they don’t look favorable for shippers over the two-year forecast horizon.”
0.6, 4.4 & 5.6
The shipments component of the Cass Freight Index® fell 4.4% year-over-year in April but increased month-over-month for the third straight time, Cass Information Systems announced on May 14. "In seasonally adjusted terms, volumes rose 0.6% — an encouraging signal for a potential second-half recovery," Cass officials said. The Cass Truckload Linehaul Index® rose 5.6% year-over-year as tightening capacity and a renewed driver shortage continue to push rates higher, officials said.
2 to 1 & 3 to 2
The Surface Transportation Board's May 28 decision to procedurally accept the revised UP-NS merger application but hold the proceedings in abeyance until Union Pacific Railroad and Norfolk Southern Railway submit supplemental information (due July 27) will impact the timing of the merger consideration process, as independent transportation consultant and Progressive Railroading columnist Tony Hatch noted in a May 28 message to his clients. After consulting with a couple of "trusted friends" and talking with other insiders, Hatch endorsed the following analysis of the board's concerns about the way the application addressed 2-to-1 and 3-to-2 shipper facilities: "UP-NS has argued that very few facilities would lose access to competing Class I rail service and that commitments can address those facilities. The Board wants more detail. This suggests the Board will examine customer-level remedies closely and may not simply accept the Applicants’ facility-access analysis at face value."
5.3 & 12.2
Verisk CargoNet recorded 767 supply chain crime events across the United States and Canada in first-quarter 2026, a 5.3% decrease from Q1 2025 and a 12.2% decline from Q4 2025, the firm reported on April 23. Despite fewer incidents, estimated losses reached $131.58 million, essentially unchanged from Q1 2025. The data "points to a clear pattern: reduced activity from domestic criminal organizations, particularly in Texas and the Southeast, paired with sustained or growing activity by organized crime groups with a nexus in California and the New York City metropolitan area," Verisk CargoNet officials said. "This shift is reflected not only in where cargo theft is occurring, but in what is being stolen and how."
8.5 & 37
Frozen poultry exports through the Port of Savannah were up by 8.5% for the 12-month period ending in February, according to data issued May 28 by the Georgia Ports Authority. The port handled 55,957 twenty-foot equivalent container units (TEUs) of frozen poultry exports, an increase of nearly 4,400 TEUs compared with the same period in the previous year. Overall, Georgia Ports handled 37% of all frozen poultry exported from the United States last year, authority officials said.
25, 26, 29, 30, 42, 46, 49 & 50
Voters turn against additional regulations once they learn proposals could raise shipping costs, worsen supply chain pressure and increase prices on for consumers, according to the results of a poll commissioned by GoRail. Issued May 18, the findings "underscore the growing political risk surrounding efforts to revive major portions of the controversial Railway Safety Act ... which critics argue would impose billions in new operational costs on the freight rail system while failing to address the primary causes identified by federal investigators," according to GoRail. Conducted by polling firm Co/efficient, the survey of 1,594 likely voters nationwide found that voters consistently favored decreasing freight rail regulations over increasing them once presented with the economic and operational tradeoffs tied to new federal mandates:
-
By a 49% to 26% margin, voters said regulations should be decreased when informed that proposed new mandates increase shipping costs, and those costs are ultimately passed on to consumers.
-
By a 50% to 25% margin, voters favored decreasing regulations after learning excessive rail mandates can push more freight onto trucks, increasing congestion, emissions, and highway accidents.
-
By a 46% to 29% margin, voters supported decreasing regulations after hearing freight rail moves goods more efficiently than trucks while reducing congestion and emissions.
-
When framed around safety concerns, voters favored decreasing regulations by a 42% to 30% margin, once informed freight rail is already the safest way to move goods over land and that excessive mandates can increase costs and worsen congestion.
60
The STB's May 28 decision to procedurally accept the revised UP-NS merger application but hold the proceedings in abeyance until the railroads submit supplemental information (due July 27) will impact the timing of the merger consideration process, as independent transportation consultant and Progressive Railroading columnist Tony Hatch noted in a May 28 message to his clients. After consulting with a couple of "trusted friends" and talking with other insiders, Hatch endorsed the following view: "The hard minimum delay is approximately 60 days, from the May 28, 2026, effective date of the decision to the July 27, 2026, supplemental filing deadline. ... The actual delay is likely to be more than 60 days because: UP-NS must prepare and file the supplemental information; the Board must review that filing; the Board may assess whether the supplement establishes a sufficient prima facie case; and the Board must then issue a future decision establishing the procedural schedule."
50 million
UPS has invested nearly $50 million in network capabilities and dedicated industry teams to "help automotive and industrial manufacturers operate with greater resilience and precision," the company announced on May 29. UPS also announced it would expand its North American Air Freight (NAAF) capabilities by introducing time-definite heavy air freight service to and from Mexico and extending coverage across North America to "better support production-critical supply chains." Beginning in August, NAAF will offer one-, two- and three-day service options to and from Mexico. The aim: fewer delays at the border and improved visibility from origin to destination, UPS officials said.