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Supply Chain by the Numbers

Oct. 9, 2026

Supply Chain by the Numbers for Oct. 9, 2026

PMI Shows US Manufacturing Expansion again in September. US Bank Freight Rate Report for Q3. Slow Progress on Autonomous Supply Chain Planning. Ocean Container Shipments Missing ETAs


h
9
That is now the number of consecutive months the Purchasing Managers Index from the Institute for Supply Management has been above the key 50 mark that separates US manufacturing expansion from contraction, with the numbers for September released by ISM late last week. With a score of 54.5 in August, the PMI was down a little from 54.6 in August, but still above the 50 level. The New Orders Index also expanded for the ninth consecutive month after four straight readings in contraction, registering 55.3, up 1.6 percentage points compared to August’s figure of 53.7, again above the key 50 mark, in good news for future US manufacturing activity.

$2.39

That was the average cost per mile for contract truckload freight carriage in August, basically flat with a rate of $2.38 in July and $2.30 in June. That according to the latest quarterly US Bank Freight Payment Index – Rates Edition, which showed contract and spot rates following different paths from June through August. Produced in collaboration with DAT Freight & Analytics, the report showed contract rates increasing while spot rates moderated from their June level. By August, contract rates carried a premium of roughly $0.22 per mile over spot freight. Average fuel surcharge rates increased from $0.62 per mile in June to $0.70 in August.



8.4%
That was the percent of ocean container shipments which provided no ETA information about their expected arrival. That according to an analysis of more than 500,000 shipments over a year conducted by Tradlinx, a supply chain data platform based in South Korea published this week. A missing ETA was most often seen while cargo was waiting at a transshipment port. In fact, nearly three in four gaps occur at the transshipment port. “Most of the industry conversation is about how accurate carrier ETAs are. Our data points to a more basic gap: for roughly one in twelve shipments, the ETA simply goes missing somewhere along the way,” Tradlinx said relative to their analysis.

5 %

That is the low rate of organizations implementing some form of supply chain planning automation will make at least 10% of their planning decisions autonomously by 2030. That according to the analysts at Gartner in a press release last week. Why the slow progress? Gartner cites the continued need for human oversight and persistent data, technology and organizational readiness challenges. “Spending millions on supply chain planning automation can expand technical capabilities, but investment alone does not create AI readiness,” said Buse Aras, Director Analyst in Gartner's Supply Chain practice.

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