ACT Market Intelligence Foundation
Proprietary Freight & Commercial Vehicle Data
The market signals behind ACT’s forward-looking intelligence.
ACT’s market intelligence begins with direct access to commercial vehicle, freight, equipment, and transportation market signals that help customers understand what is changing across the cycle.
For more than 35 years, ACT has received monthly market indicator data directly from North American Classes 5–8 truck OEMs. That direct visibility helps ACT evaluate demand, production, supply, and capacity conditions with a level of detail that supports more confident freight and equipment market forecasts.
Why Class 8 tractor data matters
When ACT evaluates freight capacity, Class 8 tractor data matters because tractors represent the equipment base most directly tied to freight movement.
ACT breaks Class 8 trucks into subsegments, including tractor day cabs, tractor sleepers, straight day cabs, and straight sleepers. That distinction is important because vocational trucks and freight-hauling tractors serve different market needs. By separating these segments, ACT can better understand the active tractor population and the equipment supply available to support freight capacity.
This view of Class 8 tractor supply helps ACT connect commercial vehicle data to freight-market conditions. When customers understand how tractor supply, build plans, retail sales, and active population are changing, they can better evaluate future capacity, rate direction, equipment demand, and market-cycle movement.
In addition to monthly market indicators, OEMs provide ACT with rolling six-month build plans that are aggregated and used as a data point in ACT’s forecasting methodology. This tractor data helps form the supply side of ACT’s supply-demand approach to freight rate forecasting.
Data sources that help connect the freight and equipment cycle
Market Indicators
See how ACT tracks key freight, commercial vehicle, equipment, economic, and survey-based indicators to understand current market conditions and cycle movement.
For-Hire Trucking Index
For two decades, ACT has surveyed large for-hire fleets to understand current market conditions from the carrier perspective. The ACT For-Hire Trucking Index tracks volumes, pricing, capacity, productivity, equipment, and driver-related conditions through monthly diffusion indexes.
These survey results help ACT evaluate carrier sentiment, confirm market activity, and connect freight-market behavior to broader transportation cycle signals.
Cass Information Systems
Through ACT’s partnership with Cass Information Systems, ACT gains additional perspective on freight rates and volumes through the Cass network.
The Cass Truckload Linehaul Index® is an important indicator of per-mile truckload pricing and one of the variables ACT forecasts. This partnership helps ACT connect freight payment and pricing signals to broader freight-market conditions and planning implications.
DAT Freight & Analytics
Through ACT’s partnership with DAT Freight & Analytics, ACT has additional visibility into truckload market rate and activity data across key equipment types.
ACT uses this perspective to support forecasts for:
- Dry van spot rates
- Dry van contract rates
- Refrigerated spot rates
- Refrigerated contract rates
- Flatbed spot rates
- Flatbed contract rates
These subsegment-level views help customers better understand rate direction, freight-market conditions, and planning implications across major truckload equipment markets.
Questions about the right market intelligence for your next decision?
ACT can help you identify the data, forecasts, reports, and analyst perspective that fit your planning needs — whether you are evaluating freight rates, capacity, equipment demand, used values, production trends, or market-cycle risk.