A November survey gauging sentiment among supply chain managers showed transportation capacity didn’t expand for the first time in more than a year while freight rates continued to climb.
The Logistics Managers’ Index – a diffusion index in which a reading above 50 indicates expansion while one below 50 signals contraction – showed transportation capacity fell 4.5 percentage points to a neutral reading of 50 in November. This was the lowest capacity reading in 14 months and only the third time the dataset hasn’t signaled expansion since March 2022, which was just ahead of the prolonged downturn.
Capacity was actually in decline in the second half of the month, with the index recording a 46.1 reading, as retailers continued to stock up for the holidays…