TL rates up again without help from volume

Volumes were down but freight rates continued to move higher in January, according to monthly data from Cass Information Systems. Cass’ (NASDAQ: CASS) multimodal shipments index declined 7.1% year over year (down 14.7% on a two-year comparison) to a reading not seen since 2009—the tail end of the Global Financial Crisis. Shipments were down 2% from December on a seasonally adjusted comp. Severe winter weather and retailers holding less inventory to start the year pushed shipments lower in the month. Som ...