The first reading shows a 5.8 per cent increase in national shipments from the first quarter and a 6.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2016, the biggest year-on-year gain in six years, reports American Shipper.
"This robust increase put the index to 128.7, which is the highest level since US Bank started. "Even more impressive, this index is up a total of 9.3 per cent through the first half of 2017, compared with the end of 2016," said the bank.
Freight spending, however, rose at a much lower rate from the first quarter to the second, at 0.7 per cent. More positively, this gain put the National Spend Index at 152, the highest level since the final quarter of 2015.
The index has increased for four consecutive quarters for the first time during the current economic expansion, US Bank said.
On a regional level, shipments were up in all regions compared with the previous quarter.