For most of the history of modern economies, one of the most vital indicators for economic health was the volume and value of goods moving through a nation.
To quantify this, the Cass Freight Index began producing data on this subject for the U.S. economy way back in 1955.
Perhaps the most useful element of the index as an economic indicator is the ‘Shipments’ subindex, which is simply the number of freight loads being moved across the United States relative to 1990 levels.
