North American freight is hitting the brakes hard.

The Cass Freight Index just posted a brutal -7.8% year-over-year decline in August, sinking to levels we haven't seen since 2020. For anyone tracking real economic activity, this index is gold—it captures actual shipment volumes across the continent, not just sentiment surveys.

Here's the kicker: this marks the 30th straight month of contraction. Thirty. That's two and a half years of relentless downward pressure on shipping volumes, which historically screams economic slowdown louder than most official stats.

When freight stalls this hard for this long, it ripples everywhere—from corporate earnings to risk-on assets. Worth watching closely.