FreightTotals Cost Index (FCI)
Freight Cost Index
With January 2026 = 100, the current reading means the weighted national basket is approximately 24.2% above its baseline. It is an input-and-market-cost benchmark, not a freight rate quote.
Index period July 2026 · Data updated
What is driving the index?
Each source is normalized to January 2026 = 100. Change compares the latest observation with the previous published month.
+39.6% YoY
+10.7% YoY
+18.1% YoY
+3.5% YoY
Boundary: fuel and labor are operating-cost inputs. The truckload and LTL BLS producer-price series are national market-pressure benchmarks; they are not lane rates or quotes.
Historical Freight Cost Index
| Date | FCI | MoM change | YoY change | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-07 | 124.22 | +4.56% | +22.76% | Validated |
| 2026-06 | 118.80 | -7.67% | +19.22% | Validated |
| 2026-05 | 128.67 | +2.27% | +33.16% | Validated |
| 2026-04 | 125.82 | +3.46% | +29.74% | Validated |
| 2026-03 | 121.61 | +18.34% | +24.35% | Validated |
| 2026-02 | 102.76 | +2.76% | +3.17% | Validated |
| 2026-01 | 100.00 | +1.52% | +1.11% | Validated |
| 2025-12 | 98.50 | -3.71% | N/A | Validated |
| 2025-11 | 102.30 | +1.88% | N/A | Validated |
| 2025-10 | 100.41 | -0.39% | N/A | Validated |
| 2025-09 | 100.80 | +0.20% | N/A | Validated |
| 2025-08 | 100.60 | -0.58% | N/A | Validated |
| 2025-07 | 101.19 | +1.55% | N/A | Validated |
| 2025-06 | 99.65 | +3.13% | N/A | Validated |
| 2025-05 | 96.63 | -0.36% | N/A | Validated |
| 2025-04 | 96.98 | -0.84% | N/A | Validated |
| 2025-03 | 97.80 | -1.81% | N/A | Validated |
| 2025-02 | 99.60 | +0.71% | N/A | Validated |
| 2025-01 | 98.90 | N/A | N/A | Validated |
Use this data
FreightTotals Freight Cost Index · July 2026
FCI124.22
Derived by FreightTotals from official EIA and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics series; neither agency publishes the FCI.
View citation text
FreightTotals. "Freight Cost Index, July 2026." FreightTotals, updated August 15, 2026. https://freighttotals.com/freight-cost-index/
Methodology
The FCI is a fixed-weight monthly index. For each component, FreightTotals divides the current official observation by its January 2026 observation and multiplies by 100. The FCI is the sum of those normalized component values multiplied by their configured weights.
Formula: 40% × US on-highway diesel retail price + 30% × General freight trucking, long-distance less than truckload + 15% × General freight trucking, truckload + 15% × Transportation and warehousing average hourly earnings.
Fuel uses the US Energy Information Administration weekly US on-highway diesel series, averaged to a month. Labor and the two national freight producer-price series use the US Bureau of Labor Statistics public API. Collection runs twice monthly; publication remains monthly.
Read the exact source and failure methodology · Data API catalog
FCI data is available under CC BY 4.0 with attribution.