Gains for Various Transportation Indexes

1. The monthly Ceridian-UCLA Pulse of Commerce Index, based on real-time fuel consumption data for over the road trucking, rose 0.8% in May following a 0.1% increase in April and a 0.3% increase in March.  Here's today's report (note that it says the May report will be the last one issued?). 

2. From today's Cass Information Systems report, based on its Cass Freight Index, a monthly measure of North American freight volumes and expenditures:

"North American freight shipments and expenditures in May both posted increases for the fourth consecutive month, with spending growth outpacing the rise in shipment volume. Total dollars spent on freight rose 2.2 percent over April. The number of freight movements was up 1.8 percent in May. Cumulatively for the year, freight dollars are up 7.8 percent year over year, while number shipments volume is 8.5 percent higher than in 2011."

3. The Federal Highway Administration reported recently that monthly vehicle-miles of travel in March increased by 0.9% compared to a year earlier, marking the fourth consecutive monthly increase in vehicle-miles on a year-over-year basis.  Traffic volume increased in previous months by 1.8% in February, 1.6% in January and 1.3% in December.  What makes those gains in traffic volume noteworthy is that they were happening at a time when gas prices were rising, from $3.23 per gallon in mid-December to almost $4.00 by the end of March.