For the first time since December, last month's Logistics Managers' Index (LMI) ticked down. But the May LMI story remains one of growth for the freight market. The index reads at 69.5, 0.4 off its four-year high set in April. Still, the May reading falls in right behind the prior month as the best the indicator has seen since 2022.
The slight step back month-to-month came as Inventory Levels fell 1.5 points to a still expanding 54.8, as authors note movement was strongly expanding during the first part of May before slowing down to virtually no movement by the end. That change also led a five point increase to move Warehousing Capacity just out of contraction territory, at 50.5.
Also dipping slightly were Warehousing Prices - down two points to a still quickly expanding 70.7 - and Warehousing Utilization, which was down 1.5 monthly to 62.9. Even more slightly, Transportation Utilization ticked down one tenth to 69.5.
Those are it for any declines, while all other metrics increased - led by Inventory Costs, which were up a whopping 9.4 to 84.1, that metric's highest reading in four years.
But the strongest performer remains Transportation Prices, which managed to rise another point to 96, holding a gap of nearly 65 versus Transportation Capacity, which stayed deep in contraction at 31.7 despite rising 3.3 in May. Going back to that 96 reading, authors say it represents the highest of any metric (i.e. fastest rate of expansion) in the LMI's history - which goes back nearly 10 years.
The question then becomes whether freight volumes will continue to support the expensive transportation market. LMI authors are watching indicators that suggest some headwinds regarding inflation and general consumer sentiment on spending that may slow everything down. But how much cargo moves as the year goes on (and how consumer confidence progresses) continues to be unclear.
Respondents are always asked to predict the future themselves though, and looking ahead to May 2027, they remain largely optimistic - though more guardedly than last month. Questions about inventories led a decline of 3.8 from April's future prediction, to a still strong 69.4 - basically even with May 2026. Inventory Levels next May are projected at 57, down 8.5 from the outlook shared for April. And while Transportation Prices remain strong, they're expected to dip a bit to 91.4 with a 51 point gap to Transportation Capacity.
See the summary of the May 2026 Logistics Managers' Index, by the numbers:
Researchers at Arizona State University, Colorado State University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rutgers University, and the University of Nevada, Reno - in conjunction with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) - issue the report. The LMI score is a combination of eight unique components that make up the logistics industry, including: inventory levels and costs, warehousing capacity, utilization, and prices, and transportation capacity, utilization, and prices.
The LMI is calculated using a diffusion index, in which any reading above 50.0 indicates that logistics is expanding; a reading below 50.0 is indicative of a shrinking logistics industry. The latest results of the LMI summarize the responses of supply chain professionals collected in May 2026. Learn more about the index on our podcast with its primary author Zac Rogers, Ph.D., associate professor of Supply Chain Management at Colorado State University.
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