Freight volume keeps growing even as the cost to move it shows no signs of dropping in the October Logistics Managers' Index (LMI). Those factors combined have the LMI up 0.5 points from September to its second highest reading in four-plus years - 70.7.
The volume-related metric of Inventory Levels is a primary driver of the upward movement, as it gained 8 points to settle at 66.9. Slightly outpacing the rise in levels was Inventory Costs, which are up to 88.8 after a monthly increase of 8.9. Inventory Levels are at their highest reading since September 2022, while Costs are at their highest since March of that year. Authors suggest retailers see a big holiday shopping season coming, as consumer spending has showed resiliency in the face of inflation and other potential roadblocks.
While contraction slowed slightly for Warehousing Capacity (+4.2 to 43.5), space is still very much at a premium, and Warehousing Prices (+7.2 to 80.7) continue to reflect that scarcity. Warehousing Utilization actually dipped a bit (-5.5 to 58.8) as retailers had their products on the move last month.
On the transportation side, the cost versus capacity gap narrowed ever so slightly, but both metrics are holding relatively firm. Transportation Prices gave back 4.7 to a still very much expanding 88, while Transportation Capacity gained 3.6 to a still very much contracting 38. Authors point out several factors are holding back the capacity metric, but hiring in the trucking industry did finally pick up a bit in the latest reading. Transportation Utilization came in at 63.5, down 2.6 monthly.
Predictions for the index in 12 months bounced back a bit, rising like the LMI itself +0.5 from last month to 69.1. Respondents have stayed consistent with their year-out predictions, which have ranged from September's 68.6 to June's 70.6 over the past five months. Key projected metrics in October 2027 are Inventory Levels at 62.5, Transportation Prices at 90 and Transportation Capacity getting close to (but not quite) moving out of contraction at 49.3.
By the Numbers
See the summary of the October 2026 Logistics Managers' Index, by the numbers:
About the Logistics Managers' Index (LMI)
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 October 2026. Learn more about it 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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