Industry growth continued for the eighth straight month, marked by improved transportation metrics that may signal the end of the freight recession, according to latest LMI report.
Economic activity in the logistics industry expanded in July, marking the eighth straight month of moderate growth across warehousing and transportation markets, according to the latest monthly Logistics Managers Index (LMI) report, released this week.
The July LMI was 56.5, up 1.2 points from June’s reading and in line with growth levels reported since January. The LMI is a monthly report that measures economic activity across warehousing and transportation markets; a reading above 50 indicates expansion across the industry and a reading below 50 indicates contraction.
July’s reading was well above year-ago levels, when the index reached its lowest point in eight years, but well below the high growth levels experienced in 2021 and 2022. The LMI contracted for the first time in its eight-year history last year—in May, June, July, and November—indicating softer demand for warehousing and transportation services overall. Since December 2023, however, the index has rebounded to more subdued growth levels.
LMI researchers credited a recovery in transportation markets alongside mixed conditions in warehousing for the results.
“This is the eleventh of twelve and [the] eighth consecutive reading of expansion for the overall index,” the LMI researchers wrote in the monthly report, published August 6. “Like last month, this reading was largely a function of positive movements in the transportation market contrasting with a moderate contraction in inventories and slowing rates of expansion in the warehousing market.”
Inventory levels contracted for the third straight month in July, while transportation capacity, utilization, and pricing all expanded at increasing rates. In particular, the transportation prices index exceeded transportation capacity for the third straight month, suggesting that the end of the freight recession may be in sight.
“We have now had a full quarter of Transportation Prices coming in above Transportation Capacity. It is highly likely that the freight recession has ended,” the researchers wrote. “There could be potential headwinds from a slowdown in imports or a black swan event; but absent those, and if current trends continue and seasonality holds, it is likely that the recession that has gripped the freight industry is moving toward its conclusion.”
The LMI is a monthly survey of logistics managers from across the country. It tracks industry growth overall and across eight areas: inventory levels and costs; warehousing capacity, utilization, and prices; and transportation capacity, utilization, and prices. The report is released monthly by researchers from Arizona State University, Colorado State University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rutgers University, and the University of Nevada, Reno, in conjunction with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP).
Source: https://www.dcvelocity.com/articles/61584-report-logistics-industry-expanded-in-july
Worldwide air cargo finished the year at its lowest year-on-year full-month growth, with global tonnages in December around +6% higher than in the final month of 2023,
The global air cargo market cruised into 2025 on the back of 14 consecutive months of double-digit growth in demand as volumes climbed +11% year-on-year in December and average...
Total demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTK), rose by 8.2% compared to November 2023 levels (9.5% for international operations) for a 16th consecutive month of growth.
Retailers and manufacturers will continue to diversify their networks while leaning on new technology to safeguard processes and improve customer experiences.
This is the time of year when journalists get bombarded with pitches from PR firms. The pitches share a “sneak peek” of the predictions that a CEO at a solutions company is...
Manufacturers closed out 2024 on a higher note, with demand and production both up in December, according to the Institute for Supply Management’s Purchasing Managers’ Index....
Volumes in the East Asia-North America route, the largest air cargo market in the world, are projected to more than double by 2043
2024 was a year of strategic adjustments and investments with an eye toward the future.
Ecommerce will remain the key driver of air cargo growth this year, as it was in 2024, according to a senior industry executive.
With tight capacity, expert perception is that any unforeseen event could cause turbulence
ALS