By Jeff Berman ·
November 1, 2023
Manufacturing output again contracted in October, according to the new edition of the Manufacturing Report on Business issued by the Institute for Supply Management.
By Andrew Balthrop and Jonathan Phares ·
August 22, 2023
The trucking industry is strongly tied to overall economic performance, but the rigidity it faces from labor, equipment, and regulations make it difficult to scale up and down quickly, leading to boom-and-bust cycles.
By Rosemary Coates ·
June 21, 2023
With so much uncertainty and mixed economic signals, it is hard, if not impossible, to see trends or predict what will happen in the supply chain.
By John D. Schulz ·
March 10, 2023
Shippers hoping to capitalize on excess capacity in the trucking industry are advised to act fast as top trucking executives say they expect boom times in the second half of this year. Meantime, those executives are bracing for a so-so first half followed by what they hope will be a solid second half of 2023.
By Jeff Berman ·
December 19, 2022
For manufacturing, ISM is estimating a 5.5% revenue gain in 2023, falling short of its 6.5% estimate from its predecessor report in May and its 9.2% 2022 growth rate. ISM member panelists are calling for 2023 services-based economy revenues to see a 3.1% gain in 2023, topping 2022’s 2.1% gain, which fell short of May’s 4.9% estimate.
By John D. Schulz ·
December 15, 2022
There is a good chance of a small, quick economic recession early next year. Combined with usual freight capacity surpluses at that time of year, it should mean a softening of freight demand for early 2023. That’s the word from Bob Costello, chief economist and senior vice president for the American Trucking Associations.
By Jeff Berman ·
October 27, 2022
There is, and has been, a fair amount of commentary and data pointing to a recession. The primary reason for that has to do with United States GDP (Gross Domestic Product) readings issued by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) over the course of 2022. First and second quarter GDP readings came in at -1.6% and -0.6%, respectively. Two straight months of GDP typically signal that a recession is underway. But it was not as linear, in this case, given the abundance of aforementioned mixed economic indicators.
By John D. Schulz ·
October 13, 2022
The trucking industry is usually a reliable early indicator of any economic slowdown affecting the economy. Usually, but in late 2022, not always. There are mixed signals emanating from the usual barrage of economic figures released by various sectors of the trucking industry.
By Jeff Berman ·
August 9, 2022
With another negative United States Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reading, for the second quarter, at -0.9, following the first quarter’s -1.6 reading, it begs the question of: is the U.S. economy is in a recession?
By Dale Rogers, Jason Miller and Zac Rogers ·
June 7, 2022
Rumors of the death of the freight market have been greatly overstated, but we may run into a slowdown.
By Jeff Berman ·
August 10, 2021
An analysis issued by IHS Markit this week made that case that despite the increasing uncertainty regarding the spreading Delta variant, of the coronavirus, that the trajectory of the ongoing economic activity remains on solid footing.
By Jeff Berman ·
July 9, 2021
Entitled the “Post-Covid Indicator,” Flexport said that this report leverages the company’s copious amount of data related to the movement of merchandise through the global logistics system as input, while not having as much of what it called a lag compared to government data and statistics. And it explained that is methodology based on an analysis of correlations between detailed shipping data and national consumption behavior.
By MMH Staff ·
June 17, 2021
This month’s index is 71.3, steady with the May index of 72.1.
By Jeff Berman ·
June 10, 2021
We have seen a dramatic turnaround in key metrics for things such as freight volumes (i.e. tonnage) that were very negatively impact by the pandemic.
By Jeff Berman ·
April 6, 2021
The often-used saying “what a difference a year makes” really takes on a new meaning these days, especially when taking into account just how, umm, unusual, the last year has been. Unusual is just one word, to describe the events of the last year. Other candidates could include: nervous, fearful, uncertain, angry, confused, and many others. But with more and more people getting their COVID-19 vaccine shots these days, the lexicon is slowly changing to words like: encouraging, optimistic, hopeful, positivity, and many others as well.