What the federal data actually says about freight costs
Most statistics quoted about freight billing come from companies selling freight audit services, and almost none of them publish a method. These do. Every study here is built from free federal data, every series is named and linked, and you can reproduce any figure yourself.
Series current through Jul 2026. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Producer Price Index.
LTL Prices Rose Twice as Fast as Truckload Since 2003
Between December 2003 and June 2026, the producer price index for long-distance LTL rose 208.0% while truckload rose 104.6%. During the 2022 to 2024 freight recession truckload fell 24.1% from its peak; LTL rose 1.6% over the identical months.
Federal price data shows less-than-truckload pricing has risen 208% since 2003 against 104.6% for truckload. During the freight recession truckload fell 24.1% while LTL did not fall at all.
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Nobody Has Measured the Freight Invoice Error Rate
Of the seven A-grade sources located on freight cost accuracy, not one measures a freight invoice error rate. The most defensible number in circulation is 77 shippers self-reporting an average of 20.8% in a 2020 survey that never defined an inaccurate invoice.
We chased every widely quoted freight billing error statistic to its primary source. One traces to a survey of 77 shippers. Four trace to named sources we could not find at all.
How this research works
Everything here comes from federal sources: the Producer Price Index, the weekly diesel price survey, and federal court records. All are free to anyone. We do not survey shippers, and we do not publish anything drawn from customer invoices.
Two limits worth stating plainly. A producer price index measures what carriers charged the market on average, not what your carrier charged you, so it is a benchmark rather than an audit. And BLS marks recent months preliminary and revises them, so figures flagged (P) can move.
The gap between the index and your invoice is the entire point. If the market moved 4% and your lane moved 11%, the difference is a conversation worth having with a number attached.