The beleaguered U.S. truck freight market showed signs of recovery in the second quarter of 2025, with national shipment volumes rising 2.4% and spending increasing 1.2% from the previous quarter, according to the latest U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index.
This marks the first quarter-to-quarter gain in both metrics in three years. All five U.S. regions posted sequential volume gains, led by a 6.7% increase in the Southwest.
“While the national year-over-year metrics remain down, the second quarter’s sequential growth in both shipments and spending are a welcome shift after years of contraction,” Bobby Holland, U.S. Bank director of freight business analytics, said in a release. “However, with all of the tariff-related volatility potentially impacting trucking activity, it is too soon to say if the market has turned the corner.”
In fact, a wide comparison shows that compared with the second quarter of 2024, national shipments were down 9.8% and spending declined 4.9%, although that year-over-year decrease in shipments was the smallest since Q3 2023.
“With unevenness in key freight drivers like manufacturing, housing, and port activity, the quarter-over-quarter gains are encouraging,” Bob Costello, senior vice president and chief economist at the American Trucking Associations, said. “There are signs the industry is beginning to rebalance, even if the road ahead remains bumpy.”
The U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index measures quantitative changes in freight shipments and spend activity based on data from transactions processed through the U.S. Bank Freight Payment platform, which processes $43 billion in freight payments annually for shippers and carriers across the U.S.
