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
- Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2025 (October, November, and December), according to the second estimate released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 4.4 percent.
- The contributors to the increase in real GDP in the fourth quarter were increases in consumer spending and investment.
- These movements were partly offset by decreases in government spending and exports. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, decreased.
Unemployment
https://www.bls.gov/charts/employment-situation/civilian-unemployment-rate.htm
- Total non-farm payroll employment edged down by 92,000 in February, and the unemployment rate changed little at 4.4 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
- Employment in health care decreased, reflecting strike activity. Employment in information and federal government continued to trend down.
- 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 7.6 million, changed little in February.
- The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) changed little at 1.9 million in February but is up from 1.5 million a year earlier. The long-term unemployed accounted for 25.3 percent of all unemployed people in February.
- Both the labor force participation rate, at 62.0 percent, and the employment-population ratio, at 59.3 percent, changed little in February. These measures showed little change over the year, after accounting for the annual adjustments to the population controls.
- The number of people employed part time for economic reasons decreased by 477,000 to 4.4 million in February. 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 changed little in February at 6.0 million. 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 edged down by 92,000 in February, following an increase in January (+126,000). Employment in health care decreased in February, reflecting strike activity. Employment in information and federal government continued to trend down. Payroll employment changed little on net in 2025.
- Health care employment declined by 28,000 in February, following a large increase in January (+77,000). Offices of physicians lost 37,000 jobs in February, primarily due to strike activity. Hospitals added 12,000 jobs. Over the prior 12 months, health care had added an average of 36,000 jobs per month.
- Employment in social assistance continued its upward trend in February (+9,000), driven by individual and family services (+12,000).
- In February, federal government employment continued to decline (-10,000). Since reaching a peak in October 2024, federal government employment is down by 330,000, or 11.0 percent.
- In February, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 15 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $37.32. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.8 percent. In February, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 9 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $32.03.
- Employment showed little change over the month in other major industries, including mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; construction; manufacturing; wholesale trade; retail trade; financial activities; professional and business services; leisure and hospitality; and other services.
- In February, the average workweek for all employees on private non-farm payrolls was unchanged at 34.3 hours. In manufacturing, the average workweek edged down by 0.1 hour to 40.1 hours, and overtime was unchanged at 3.0 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private non-farm payrolls was unchanged at 33.8 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 February 23rd, 2026)
- New orders for manufactured goods in December, down two of the last three months, decreased $4.3 billion or 0.7 percent to $617.5 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today. This followed a 2.7 percent November increase.
- Shipments, up two of the last three months, increased $3.1 billion or 0.5 percent to $609.2 billion. This followed a 0.2 percent November decrease.
- Unfilled orders, up seventeen of the last eighteen months, increased $13.4 billion or 0.9 percent to $1,527.5 billion. This followed a 1.4 percent November increase.
- The unfilled orders-to-shipments ratio was 7.01, down from 7.04 in November. Inventories, up three consecutive months, increased $1.0 billion or 0.1 percent to $949.6 billion. This followed a 0.2 percent November increase.
- The inventories-to-shipments ratio was 1.56, down from 1.57 in November.
Transportation Update
Fuel
https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/gasdiesel/?os=frefapp
The national average price of diesel for the week of February 23 stood at $3.81 per gallon, an increase of 19 cents from four weeks prior at the end of January and down $0.11 from a year ago.
Transportation Capacity
- The Transportation Capacity Index decreased 6.1 points to 41.0 percent in February 2026.
- With this decrease, the Transportation Capacity index remains below the critical threshold and continues to indicate contraction. With this decrease, the Transportation Capacity index is 14.1 points below the level indicated one year ago and 19.9 points below the level indicated two years ago. While the Upstream Transportation Capacity index is at 42.0, the Downstream index is at 38.7 but the difference is not statistically significant. Hence, the contraction observed in Transportation Capacity is widespread across the supply chains and quite significant, when compared to historical seasonal trends.
- Future predictions for Transportation Capacity read in at 44.9, up (+2.6) from January’s prediction of 42.3, indicating continued expectations for contraction over the next 12 months. Upstream future predictions are 46.7, the Downstream Transportation Capacity index is at 40.3, and the difference is not statistically significant. As such, the expectations of future contractions are prevalent across the supply chains, both Upstream and Downstream.
Transportation Prices
February 2026 Logistics Managers’ Index – LOGISTICS MANAGERS’ INDEX
- The Transportation Prices Index increased another 5.3 points from the previous reading and recorded 76.7 in February 2026. With this fifth consecutive increase, the index is the highest reading since March of 2022.
- The Upstream Transportation Prices Index is at 79.7, the Downstream index is at 68.3 and the difference is statistically significant. As such, it can be concluded that the inflationary pressure on Transportation Prices is being felt stronger Upstream than Downstream, but it is present across the supply chains.
- Future predictions for Transportation Prices are 80.3, up slightly (+0.8) from January’s future prediction of 79.5 and indicating expectations for extreme expansions in price. The Upstream future Transportation prices index is at 81.2 while the Downstream Transportation prices index is at 79.0, and the difference is not statistically significant. Therefore, inflationary expectations in Transportation prices are prevalent across the supply chains, both Upstream and Downstream.
Cass Freight & Truckload Index
Uncertainty Reigns
Source: Cass Information Systems, Inc.
Cass Transportation Index Report | February 2026 | Cass Information Systems
Cass Transportation Index Report | February 2026 | 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 0.2% m/m in February, after a 1.7% increase in January.
- Rates slowed to 2.2% y/y in February, from 3.2% in January, but accelerated to a 4.1% increase over two years ago, a new cycle high on the two-year stacked change.
- Warmer weather could lead to some slowdown, but spot capacity remains tight in early March, positioning trucking rates to accelerate.
- With volumes still soft around the industry, supply constraints are supporting higher rates. These constraints are not just weather, but equipment and increasingly drivers.
- This index reflects the whole for-hire market, both spot and contract rates.
The Cass Truckload Linehaul Index fell 10% in 2023, another 3.4% in 2024, and turned up to a 1.8% increase in 2025.
Truck Tonnage Index
U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics
ATA Truck Tonnage Index Rose 0.4% in January
From the American Trucking Associations (ATA) on Feb 24, 2026:
- In January, the ATA advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index equaled 113.0, up from 112.5 in December. The index, which is based on 2015 as 100, increased 0.5% from the same month in 2025. In 2025, the tonnage index was flat compared to the 2024 average.
- The not seasonally adjusted index, which calculates raw changes in tonnage hauled, equaled 108.3 in January, 2.5% below December’s reading of 111.1.
- ATA recently revised the seasonally adjusted index back five years as part of its annual revision.
- 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.
