January 2021 Trucking Improved Written by Steven Hansen Headline data for the CASS Freight Index show that truck volumes show volumes grew month-over-month - and the year-over-year growth advanced further in positive territory. The American Trucking Association (ATA) index improved and now is in expansion. Analyst Opinion of Truck Transport The CASS index is inclusive of rail, truck, and air shipments. The ATA truck index is inclusive of only trucking industry member movements (ATA's tonnage data is dominated by contract freight). I put a heavier weight on the CASS index year-over-year which is more consistent with rail and ocean freight. Econintersect tries to validate truck data across data sources. It appears this month that the truck employment rate of growth continues to improve. Please note using BLS employment data in real-time is risky, as their data is normally backward adjusted (sometimes significantly). Additionally, Econintersect believes that the BLS is not capturing all truck employment.