The Logistics Manager’s Index (LMI), a bellwether of the health of the logistics sector in the US, has jumped 4.2 points month-on-month, to be 69.9 for April, driven by continued expansion in the freight market.

The LMI is produced by researchers at Arizona State University, Colorado State University, Florida Atlantic University, Rutgers University, and the University of Nevada, Reno in conjunction with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), using responses from supply chain professionals.

It is calculated on a combination of eight unique components which make up the logistics industry, including: Inventory Levels and Costs, Warehousing Capacity, Utilisation, and Prices, and Transportation Capacity, Utilisation, and Prices.

A reading above 50.0 indicates logistics is expanding in the US; a reading below 50.0 indicates a shrinking logistics industry.

The April LMI shows Transportation Prices continue on their sharp upward trajectory jumping 5.6 points m-o-m to 95.0, which is the “second-fastest rate of expansion for this, or any, metric that we have recorded in 9.5-year history of the LMI”, index producers state.

The April LMI also includes the second-lowest reading ever for Transportation Capacity, which is down -10.9 points m-o-m to 28.4. 

“The 66.6-point spread between Transportation Prices and Transportation Capacity is the largest delta we have ever read,” index producers continue. “Taken together, this means that we have never before tracked the transportation metric getting simultaneously tighter or more expensive.”

Index producers say freight markets were already on a strong upward trajectory coming into 2026, however, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and subsequent increase in fuel costs” have supercharged these movements”.

“While this is good news for carriers in the near-term, it remains unclear what the long-term effects will be,” the April LMI report states.

Inventory Costs (74.7) and Warehousing Prices (72.2) both came in above 70.0, which is what LMI producers consider as the threshold for “significant” expansion. 

“Aggregating these three costs together, we see that upward movements in logistics costs are in at 242.4,” the report states. “This is the fastest rate of expansion since March of 2022 and represents a 46.8-point increase from the much milder reading of 195.7 from December. 

“Previous readings above 240.0 for aggregate logistics costs have been strongly significantly predictive of future supply-induced inflation.”

LMI survey respondents, when asked to predict movement in the overall LMI and individual metrics 12 months from now, have the index reaching 73.2, up 5.4 points from March’s future prediction of 67.8.

“Much of this upwards revision is driven by the anticipated shift in inventory strategies,” LMI authors state. “Taken altogether, these future predictions anticipate a costly build-up of inventories that will fuel tight capacity and high prices across supply chains.”