It is no secret that trucking is the heart of the nation’s freight system, as most products transported within the United States find their way onto trucks. That’s why DC Velocity is now partnering with U.S. Bank each quarter to present the “U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index Report.”U.S. Bank is a provider of freight audit and payment services that processes more than $46 billion in freight bills annually. In addition to acting as a financial intermediary, the company offers data analytics through the U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index, which measures quantitative changes in freight shipments and spend activity based on data from transactions processed through the U.S. Bank Freight Payment platform. The report generated from these indices provides a quick snapshot into the freight industry, including breakouts of shipping trends throughout America’s regional markets.The following is a condensed version of the “Q4 2025 U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index Report.” This represents the first is series of reports that will appear on quarterly basis in DC Velocity. The full U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index is available at freight.usbank.com.National freight market overviewThe “Q4 2025 U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index Report” shows that the U.S. truck freight market saw a modest improvement in shipment volumes during 2025 (see Exhibit 1), while tightening capacity drove shipper spending to its highest level since early 2024. National shipments rose 1.5% from the previous quarter, while spending jumped 4.6%.According to the U.S. Bank National Shipments Index, demand remained subdued throughout the fourth quarter of 2025. During this…
