April Freight Trends Jump, 2021 To Be 'Extraordinarily Strong Year' Shipments and expenditures surged again in April, according to data released by Cass Information Systems (NASDAQ: CASS ) on Wednesday. The Cass Freight Index returned a 27.6% year-over-year increase in shipments with the expenditures component of the index jumping 45.1%. The comparisons to the prior year reflect widespread quarantine mandates that brought the economy to a temporary halt. The year-over-year growth rate for shipments was a new record, outpacing the rate of recovery seen following the 2008-09 recession. Shipments fell 3.1% from March on a seasonally adjusted basis as expenditures increased 1.1%. March numbers reflected a freight snapback following February's severe winter storms, which caused widespread transportation outages and delays. The shipments index was only slightly below pre-pandemic levels, off 1.3% when compared to April 2019. The report's author, ACT Research's Tim Denoyer, believes supply issues weighed on April's sequential change as well. "While some of the March m|m increase was makeup from activity lost during the polar vortex in February, our sense is the April m|m decline was due more to ongoing supply constraints and the deepening …