The BLS Producer Price Index for general freight trucking tracks how the prices trucking companies receive change over time. To use it in a freight budget or contract, pick the series that matches the work (truckload, LTL, local trucking or warehousing), fix a base month, and adjust by the percent change in the index, never the point change. Use unadjusted data and agree up front how preliminary figures and revisions are handled.
The trucking PPI is a price index, not a freight rate: it shows how much average selling prices in an industry moved relative to a base period, not what your next load will cost. The Bureau of Labor Statistics defines the PPI program as measuring “the average change over time in the selling prices received by domestic producers for their output.”[1] Because nobody in the contract controls it, it is one of the few numbers a shipper, a carrier and a warehouse can all accept as neutral.
In this guide
- What the trucking PPI measures: the four series that matter
- Step 1: Match the series to the work
- Step 2: Fix the base period and use unadjusted data
- Step 3: Calculate the percent change, not the points
- Step 4: Decide how to handle preliminary data
- Step 5: Write the adjustment terms
- Using the index in an annual freight budget
- New Jersey and Port Newark context
- Frequently asked questions
Key takeaways
- Use the series that matches the service: truckload, LTL, local trucking or warehousing.
- Adjust by percent change; BLS strongly discourages index-point adjustments.
- Single months are noisy: the base-month choice alone moved the 2025–2026 truckload answer from +12.6% to +18.0%.
- Preliminary figures are revised for up to 4 months; agree which version you use.
What the Trucking PPI Measures: The Four Series That Matter
For freight budgets, four BLS industry series do most of the work: three for general freight trucking and one for general warehousing and storage. All four are monthly, not seasonally adjusted, and indexed to December 2003 = 100.[2][3][4][5] The table shows the August 2026 values as BLS published them, marked preliminary, and the change from August 2025 (RapidShips analysis: later value divided by earlier value, minus 1).
| Series (BLS ID) | August 2026 (preliminary) | Change from August 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Long-distance truckload (PCU484121484121) | 207.644 | +13.9% |
| Long-distance LTL (PCU484122484122) | 306.839 | +14.3% |
| Local general freight trucking (PCU484110484110) | 198.606 | +10.5% |
| General warehousing and storage (PCU493110493110) | 168.967 | +5.4% |
Compare series by their percent changes, never by their levels: an LTL index of 306.839 and a truckload index of 207.644 say nothing about which mode costs more, only how far each has moved since its base. Every monthly value since 2017, with charts and a downloadable table, is on the trucking and warehousing price index page.
Use this tool: the Freight Data Center
The Freight Data Center keeps these series current with their sources, release dates and limitations, and Compare Freight Data puts two series side by side by percent change. The methodology page explains how each figure is checked.
Step 1: Match the Series to the Work
BLS advises contracting parties to choose an index, or a group of indexes, that represents the costs of providing the product or service.[6] In practice that means matching the series to how the freight actually moves:
| Spend line | Closest series | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Full truckload linehaul | Long-distance truckload | Your lanes may move differently from the national average |
| LTL shipments | Long-distance LTL | Class, density and accessorials change your bill independently |
| Short-haul and local moves | Local general freight trucking | These three trucking series have no separate drayage index |
| Storage and warehouse handling | General warehousing and storage | A national series; local space and labor markets differ |
BLS also notes that users often adjust different parts of a price with different series: materials and supplies with one or more PPIs, and labor with other BLS series such as the Employment Cost Index.[6] A warehouse handling contract, for example, could weight a storage line to the warehousing PPI and leave labor to a separate measure.
Step 2: Fix the Base Period and Use Unadjusted Data
The base period is the month and year the starting price was set, and BLS says the clause should state it.[6] Two related rules from the BLS guide:
- Use unadjusted data. BLS says that, in general, seasonally adjusted indexes are not appropriate in price adjustment agreements.[6] All four series above are published not seasonally adjusted.
- Don’t lock the clause to the index’s reference base. BLS advises against tying the adjustment to a particular index reference base period,[6] so the clause keeps working if BLS rebases a series.
Step 3: Calculate the Percent Change, Not the Points
A PPI price adjustment multiplies the base price by the ratio of the current index to the base-period index. The BLS guide works through exactly this calculation, and it strongly discourages adjusting by index points, because point changes stop matching percent changes once an index moves away from 100.[6]
Adjusted price = base price × (index in the adjustment period ÷ index in the base period)
Here is the same calculation on the long-distance truckload series, with a $1,000 base line chosen only to make the arithmetic easy to read (it is not a rate). What changes is the choice of months:
| Base vs. adjustment period | Index ratio | $1,000 base becomes |
|---|---|---|
| June 2025 (168.388) vs. June 2026 (198.768) | 1.1804 (+18.0%) | $1,180.42 |
| July 2025 (180.906) vs. July 2026 (203.781) | 1.1264 (+12.6%) | $1,126.45 |
| August 2025 (182.330) vs. August 2026 (207.644) | 1.1388 (+13.9%) | $1,138.84 |
| June–August 2025 average (177.208) vs. June–August 2026 average (203.398) | 1.1478 (+14.8%) | $1,147.79 |
Index values from BLS series PCU484121484121; the 2026 values are preliminary.[2] Calculations are RapidShips analysis. The spread comes from single-month noise: the truckload index rose from 168.388 in June 2025 to 180.906 in July 2025, a 7.4% jump in one month.[2] Averaging three months at each end, as in the last row, is one way contracting parties dampen that noise; whichever method you choose, write it into the clause so nobody picks the month after the fact.
Step 4: Decide How to Handle Preliminary Data
BLS revises PPI data for up to 4 months after first publication, and the version published 4 months later is final.[6] On the BLS series pages, the latest four months carry a (P) for preliminary; in the August 2026 data, May through August 2026 are preliminary.[2] BLS says parties may choose first-issued indexes if capturing the most recent price movement matters more to them than waiting for final figures.[6] Either choice works if it is written down.
Put the release calendar in the process, too. BLS published the August 2026 PPI on September 10, 2026 and schedules September 2026 data for October 15, 2026.[7] BLS also recommends that contracts say what happens when data are not published and name a successor index if a series is discontinued.[6]
Step 5: Write the Adjustment Terms
A workable escalation clause answers these questions in writing. BLS says the clause should specify when adjustments are made, for example quarterly, semi-annually or annually, and notes that some clauses set a floor, a ceiling or both.[6]
- Which series, by BLS series ID, and that it is not seasonally adjusted.
- Which part of the price it adjusts: linehaul, storage, handling. Fuel surcharges and accessorials usually have their own terms.
- Base period and the comparison months, including any averaging.
- How often the price adjusts, and from what effective date.
- Preliminary or final data, and whether later revisions reopen an adjustment.
- Caps and floors, if any, and whether the price can go down as well as up.
- Fallbacks for missing data and a successor index.
BLS does not help write contracts or advise on disputes over how a clause is interpreted,[6] so have counsel review the final wording.
Using the Index in an Annual Freight Budget
For a budget, the PPI is a way to test assumptions, not a forecast. A practical method:
- Split last year’s spend by activity: truckload, LTL, local and drayage, storage and handling.
- Attach a series to each line using the table in Step 1.
- Look at the trailing change for each series over the same months you are budgeting, not a single month.
- Build a range, not a point: one scenario at the trailing change, one flatter, one steeper.
- Separate the things the PPI doesn’t cover: port charges, demurrage and detention, and your own volume changes.
Price and volume can move in opposite directions. RapidShips’ research on trucking prices and freight volume sets these price indexes against the BTS Freight Transportation Services Index, which fell over the year to July 2026 while the trucking price indexes rose by double digits. The data shows the gap; it does not explain it.
Use this tool: see what drives the cost of one job
An index tells you how the market moved; it can’t tell you what a specific job involves. The Freight Cost Calculator breaks a shipment into its cost drivers (handling, labor, storage, transportation, accessorials) without guessing prices, and the Freight Cost Guide explains each driver.
New Jersey and Port Newark Context
These are national indexes: BLS does not publish a New Jersey trucking PPI in these series, so a budget for freight through the Port of New York and New Jersey should read them alongside local data. The Port of NY and NJ container volume page shows the Port Authority’s monthly TEU counts, and the New Jersey freight employment data tracks warehouse and trucking jobs in the state. Our research report on New Jersey warehousing trends reads jobs, establishments and the warehousing price index together.
Port-side charges sit outside the PPI entirely. Demurrage, detention and chassis charges are set by terminals, ocean carriers and chassis providers under their own tariffs; see demurrage vs. detention and chassis split and pre-pull fees for how those are billed.
RapidShips does not price jobs from an index. We quote each cross-dock, transload, storage or rework job from its details at our dock in East Brunswick, NJ. To get a job priced, the Freight Scope Builder builds a request the dock can quote, or call 800-376-2808.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the trucking PPI?
How do you calculate a PPI price adjustment?
Should an escalation clause use seasonally adjusted PPI data?
How often is the trucking PPI updated and revised?
Which PPI series fits warehousing and storage costs?
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Producer Price Indexes (program home)," accessed September 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "PPI industry data for General freight trucking, long-distance TL, not seasonally adjusted (PCU484121484121)," accessed September 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "PPI industry data for General freight trucking, long-distance LTL, not seasonally adjusted (PCU484122484122)," accessed September 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "PPI industry data for General freight trucking, local, not seasonally adjusted (PCU484110484110)," accessed September 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "PPI industry data for General warehousing and storage, not seasonally adjusted (PCU493110493110)," accessed September 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Producer Price Index (PPI) Guide for Price Adjustment," accessed September 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Release schedule: Producer Price Index," accessed September 2026.
This guide explains public statistics and the BLS’s published guidance. It is not legal, accounting or procurement advice, and it is not a forecast. Have counsel review any price adjustment clause before it goes into a contract.