Contents:
Key Odyssey Network Indicators
Shipper Actions
In today’s competitive environment, becoming a preferred shipper to carriers can help improve attaining sufficient capacity. Things that shippers offer that help reach this status can include:
Accuracy:
Forecast for the end of month/end of quarter – plan for surges in your needs to ensure coverage
Develop order lead time – at least 5 days in advance. ask carriers for “best case” options
Specificity:
Request delivery windows from customers…often 8 a.m. deliveries are requested when product really is not need until much later. A window of 8-10 a.m. may have a better chance of coverage.
Spread delivery times across the day
Assess what your customers really need. Make sure that customer delivery requirements are up to date and accurate. Do not require equipment/assessorials that are not needed
Flexibility:
- Offer flexible load times
- Explore/ be open to mode options including intermodal
Driver-friendliness:
- Load/unload within the normal 2 hours-time is money to drivers
- Provide creature comforts (clean restrooms, rest areas, free Wi-Fi, a cup of coffee, etc.)
Consistency:
- Offer consistent volume that carriers can plan against
- Reduce order changes – a new date may put coverage at risk
Efficiency:
- Maximize payload on trucks
- Utilize trailer drop yards at high volume origins when possible
- Prioritize loading/unloading trucks quickly at facilities
Promptness:
- Pay carriers within their contracted freight terms- cash flow is vital to carriers
Economic Update
GDP Change
Gross Domestic Product | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)
- Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 4.3 percent in the third quarter of 2025 (July, August, and September), according to the initial estimate released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the second quarter, real GDP increased 3.8 percent.
- The increase in real GDP in the third quarter reflected increases in consumer spending, exports, and government spending that were partly offset by a decrease in investment.
- Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, decreased.
Unemployment
https://www.bls.gov/charts/employment-situation/civilian-unemployment-rate.htm
- Both total non-farm payroll employment (+50,000) and the unemployment rate (4.4 percent) changed little in December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
- Employment continued to trend up in food services and drinking places, health care, and social assistance. Retail trade lost jobs.
- This news release presents statistics from two monthly surveys.
- The household survey measures labor force status, including unemployment, by demographic characteristics.
- The establishment survey measures non-farm employment, hours, and earnings by industry.
Household Survey Data
- Both the unemployment rate, at 4.4 percent, and the number of unemployed people, at 7.5 million, changed little in December.
- The number of people jobless less than 5 weeks edged down to 2.3 million in December. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) changed little over the month at 1.9 million but is up by 397,000 over the year. The long-term unemployed accounted for 26.0 percent of all unemployed people in December.
- Both the labor force participation rate, at 62.4 percent, and the employment-population ratio, at 59.7 percent, changed little in December. These measures have shown little change over the year.
- The number of people employed part time for economic reasons, at 5.3 million, changed little in December but is up by 980,000 over the year. These individuals would have preferred full-time employment but were working part-time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs.
- The number of people not in the labor force who currently want a job was little changed at 6.2 million in December but is up by 684,000 over the year. These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job.
Establishment Survey Data
- Total non-farm payroll employment changed little in December (+50,000). Employment continued to trend up in food services and drinking places, health care, and social assistance. Retail trade lost jobs. Payroll employment rose by 584,000 in 2025 (an average monthly gain of 49,000), less than the increase of 2.0 million in 2024
- Healthcare employment continued its upward trend in December (+21,000), with a gain of 16,000 jobs in hospitals. Health care employment rose by an average of 34,000 per month in 2025, less than the average monthly gain of 56,000 in 2024.
- In December, employment in social assistance continued to trend up (+17,000), mostly in individual and family services (+13,000).
- Federal government employment was little changed in December (+2,000). Since reaching a peak in January, federal government employment is down by 277,000, or 9.2 percent. (Employees on paid leave or receiving ongoing severance pay are counted as employed in the establishment survey.)
- In December, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 12 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $37.02. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.8 percent. In December, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees, at $31.76, changed little (+3 cents).
- Employment showed little or no change over the month in other major industries, including mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; construction; manufacturing; wholesale trade; transportation and warehousing; information; financial activities; professional and business services; and other services.
- The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged down by 0.1 hour to 34.2 hours in December. In manufacturing, the average workweek edged down by 0.2 hour to 39.9 hours, and overtime was unchanged at 2.9 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls remained at 33.7 hours.
U.S. Truck Transportation Employment
Manufactured Goods – New Orders
https://www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/current/index.html
Monthly Full Report on Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, & Orders
(Released January 7, 2026)
- New orders for manufactured goods in October, down following two consecutive monthly increases, decreased $8.1 billion or 1.3 percent to $604.8 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today. This followed a 0.2 percent September increase.
- Shipments, up following two consecutive monthly decreases, increased $0.5 billion or 0.1 percent to $607.0 billion. This followed a 0.1 percent September decrease.
- Unfilled orders, up fifteen of the last sixteen months, increased $2.7 billion or 0.2 percent to $1,492.8 billion. This followed a 0.8 percent September increase.
- The unfilled orders-to-shipments ratio was 6.92, down from 6.98 in September. Inventories, up following two consecutive monthly decreases, increased $0.4 billion or virtually unchanged to $947.0 billion. This followed a 0.1 percent September decrease.
- The inventories-to-shipments ratio was 1.56, unchanged from September.
Transportation Update
Fuel
https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/gasdiesel/?os=frefapp
The national average price of diesel for the week of December 29 stood at $3.50 per gallon, a decrease of 33 cents from four weeks prior at the end of November and down $0.03 from a year ago.
Transportation Capacity
- The Transportation Capacity Index collapsed 13.1 points to 36.9 percent in December 2025.
- With this fourth consecutive drop, the Transportation Capacity index moved decisively into contraction territory. Last time the Transportation Capacity was at a level as low as this was in the fall of 2021. While the Upstream Transportation Capacity index is at 34.7, the Downstream index is slightly higher at 42.9 but the difference is not statistically significant. Hence, it can be concluded that the contraction in Transportation Capacity is spread across the supply chains, both Upstream and Downstream.
- The future Transportation Capacity index also decreased 6.5 points, and it is now at 40.5, indicating contraction for the next 12 months. While the future Upstream index is at 36.2, the Downstream Transportation Capacity index is at 52.4, and the difference is statistically significant.
Transportation Prices
December 2025 Logistics Managers’ Index – LOGISTICS MANAGERS’ INDEX
- The Transportation Prices Index increased another 1.8 points from the previous reading and recorded 66.7 in December 2025. With this increase, the index is now only .1 points lower than the level indicated one year ago.
- The Upstream Transportation Prices Index is at 69.5, the Downstream index is at 59.1 but the difference is not statistically significant. As such, it can be concluded that the inflationary pressure on Transportation Prices is being felt across the supply chains, both Upstream and Downstream.
- The future index for Transportation Prices decreased slightly from last month, dropping 1.6 points and not indicating 76.8 level for the next year. The Upstream future Transportation Prices index is at 80.8 while the Downstream Transportation Prices index is at 65.9, and the difference is statistically significant. Therefore, the predicted inflation in Transportation Prices is greater Upstream than Downstream.
Cass Freight & Truckload Index
Uncertainty Reigns
Source: Cass Information Systems, Inc.
Cass Transportation Index Report | December 2025 | Cass Information Systems
Cass Transportation Index Report | December 2025 | Cass Information Systems
The Cass Truckload Linehaul Index is a measure of market fluctuations in per-mile truckload linehaul rates, independent of additional cost components such as fuel and accessorials.
The Cass Truckload Linehaul Index rose 1.0% m/m in December, after a 0.1% increase in November.
- The y/y increase decelerated to 2.1% in December, from 2.2% in November.
- The increase in rates amid lower volumes supports the assertion that weather was in large part to blame.
- Warmer weather in early January has helped clear the weather-driven backlog, so this rate momentum could be temporary, particularly with volumes slowing seasonally in the next few months.
- But holiday spending surpassed low expectations, inventories likely need restocking, and capacity continues to contract. The market balance briefly tipped toward fleets in December.
Truck Tonnage Index
NEXT RELEASE Feb 2, 2026)
ATA Truck Tonnage Index Rose 0.2% in November
From the American Trucking Associations (ATA) on December 23, 2025:
- In November, the ATA advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index equaled 112.4, up from 112.2 in October. The index, which is based on 2015 as 100, contracted 0.3% from the same month last year after decreasing 1.5% in October. Year-to-date, compared with the same period in 2024, tonnage was unchanged.
- October’s SA decrease was revised up slightly from what was first reported in our November 18 press release.
- The not seasonally adjusted index, which calculates raw changes in tonnage hauled, equaled 107.3 in November, 10.2% below October’s reading of 119.5.
- Trucking serves as a barometer of the U.S. economy, representing 72.7% of tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation, including manufactured and retail goods. Trucks hauled 11.27 billion tons of freight in 2024. Motor carriers collected $906 billion, or 76.9% of total revenue earned by all transport modes.
- Both indices are dominated by contract freight, as opposed to traditional spot market freight. The tonnage index is calculated on surveys from its membership and has been doing so since the 1970s. This is a preliminary figure and subject to change in the final report issued around the 5th day of each month. The report includes month-to-month and year-over-year results, relevant economic comparisons, and key financial indicators.
National Spot Rates
Source: DAT Analytics | https://www.dat.com/trendlines
The chart above depicts national average rates (including fuel surcharges) in the past 13 months, derived from DAT RateView.
