US Logistics Growth Second-Highest in 4 Years

2026-11-03 11:08 By Joana Taborda 1 min. read

The US Logistics Managers’ Index increased to 70.7 in October 2026 from 70.2 in September, pointing to the second-strongest growth in the logistics sector in four years, behind only June.

The gain is driven by the continued increase in inventory levels (66.9 vs 58.9).

Downstream retailers built up inventories slightly faster than their Upstream counterparts, suggesting that a significant driver of this upward movement is retailers stocking up for holiday sales.

This stock up has come at a price, as inventory costs are up (88.8 vs 79.9), the highest reading since March 2022.

The increase in inventories seems to be impacting available storage as both warehousing capacity (43.5 vs 39.3) and transportation capacity (38 vs 34.4) continue to contract.

Transportation prices did slow (88 vs 92.7).

When taken together with the rapid expansion in warehousing prices (80.7 vs 73.5), Aggregate Logistics Costs read in at 257.5, which is the fastest rate of expansion since March of 2022.



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US Logistics Growth Second-Highest in 4 Years
The US Logistics Managers’ Index increased to 70.7 in October 2026 from 70.2 in September, pointing to the second-strongest growth in the logistics sector in four years, behind only June. The gain is driven by the continued increase in inventory levels (66.9 vs 58.9). Downstream retailers built up inventories slightly faster than their Upstream counterparts, suggesting that a significant driver of this upward movement is retailers stocking up for holiday sales. This stock up has come at a price, as inventory costs are up (88.8 vs 79.9), the highest reading since March 2022. The increase in inventories seems to be impacting available storage as both warehousing capacity (43.5 vs 39.3) and transportation capacity (38 vs 34.4) continue to contract. Transportation prices did slow (88 vs 92.7). When taken together with the rapid expansion in warehousing prices (80.7 vs 73.5), Aggregate Logistics Costs read in at 257.5, which is the fastest rate of expansion since March of 2022.
2026-11-03
US Logistics Growth 2nd-Highest in 4 Years
The US Logistics Managers’ Index increased to 70.2 in September 2026 from 66.6 in August. It is the second-highest reading in four years, behind only June’s reading of 71.1. A faster increase was seen for Inventory Levels (58.9 vs 52.8) and Inventory Costs (79.9 vs 78.6) which is also having a significant effect on the warehousing market. Warehousing Capacity shrank the most since March 2022 (39.3 vs 53.5), potentially due to the fact that firms, particularly retailers, had run inventory down a bit and are not rushing goods in now ahead of potential holiday sales. The reduction in available storage capacity has boosted Warehousing Utilization (64.3 vs 59.6) and is likely behind the consistently robust expansion of Warehousing Prices (73.5 vs 75). There are similar dynamics in Transportation Capacity (34.4 vs 40) while Transportation Utilization continues expanding but at a slower rate (66.1 vs 70.6). Finally, Transportation Prices continue to surge (92.7 vs 90).
2026-10-06
US Logistics Sector Slows for 2nd Straight Month in August
The US Logistics Managers’ Index fell for a second consecutive month to 66.6 in August 2026, from 68.9 in July, pointing to the slowest growth in the logistics sector in six months. The decline was driven by a slowdown in inventory expansion, while logistics costs continued to rise at a high pace. Inventory Levels eased (-2.2 to 52.8), primarily driven by Upstream. However, expansion in Inventory Costs continue apace (+1.6 to 78.6), which is their second-fastest rate of expansion in 12 months. There were similar dynamics in warehousing and transportation. Warehousing Capacity moved up (+7.2 to 53.5), its fastest rate of expansion all year, while Warehousing Prices remained elevated (-0.5 to 75). Transportation Capacity is still contracting (+11.6 to 40) but Transportation Price expansion is up (+3.1 to 90). Essentially, the August report paints a picture of logistics costs that seem to be rapidly increasing no matter what the underlying situation is.
2026-09-01