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Jeff Kauffman

Contributing Economic Analyst

Jeff Kauffman has been as recognized authority in trucking, logistics and transportation equipment since 1993. He has been a frequent contributor to national news outlets on economic and trucking industry trends, and writes a bimonthly column “Behind the Numbers,” which appears in Heavy Duty Trucking and on TruckingInfo.com.

The longtime global head of freight transportation research for Merrill Lynch, he now heads up his own transportation consulting firm, Tahoe Ventures. He is also serves as principal of transportation and logistics equity research at Vertical Research Partners.

Articlesby Jeff KauffmanApril 25, 2023

Are Trucking Share Prices an Accurate Economic Predictor?

Jeff Kauffman, HDT's contributing economic analyst, takes a look at economic and trucking indicators reflecting an upcoming economic downturn.

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Articlesby Jeff KauffmanMarch 26, 2023

What Do Q1 Freight Volumes Tell Us?

Given the uncertainty in the larger economy, what do the various volume lead indicators for trucking telling us? HDT's Contributing Economic Analyst explores the numbers.

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Articlesby Jeff KauffmanJanuary 24, 2023

What Can Trucking Expect from Inflation and Interest-Rate Numbers? [Analysis]

Slowing inflation means the Fed will slow down its pace of rate increases that it implemented to slow the overheated economy. The questions are, how much, how fast — and how might that affect the outlook for trucking fleets?

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Articlesby Jeff KauffmanNovember 22, 2022

How a Softer Economy is Affecting Transportation Earnings

While the economy continues to grow, it appears to be doing so at a slower rate, and freight yields are coming under increasing pressure, HDT's Contributing Economic Analyst Jeff Kauffman.

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Articlesby Jeff KauffmanSeptember 27, 2022

What Q2 Earnings Tells Trucking About Market Trends

Transport companies delivered largely better-than expected second-quarter earnings, but we are starting to see weaker trends developing in consumer-facing industries.

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Articlesby Jeff KauffmanJuly 5, 2022

Why Trucking May Not Be a Leading Economic Indicator This Cycle

Traditionally, trucking was looked to as an early indicator of larger economic problems. Find out why HDT’s economic analyst thinks this freight cycle may be different.

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Articlesby Jeff KauffmanJanuary 4, 2022

Fleet Financial Trends Imply Solid Start to 2022

As we neared the end of 2021 and took a look at third-quarter fleet earnings reports, the news looked good — good enough that the stock prices of the group were up 15.6% during the earnings reporting season, compared to the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index that was up 7.6%.

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Articlesby Jeff KauffmanOctober 27, 2021

The Great Modal Migration of 2021 Continues [Commentary]

If looking behind the Cass shipment and expenditures numbers means what HDT's Contributing Economic Analyst Jeff Kauffman thinks it does, long-haul carriers could benefit. 

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Articlesby Jeff KauffmanAugust 17, 2021

LTL the Big Winner in Q2 Earnings Reports [Commentary]

Transportation and logistics companies delivered largely better-than expected second quarter 2021 earnings with improved outlooks, although there were larger headwinds than expected.

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Articlesby Jeff KauffmanJune 24, 2021

What Does Inflation Mean For Trucking?

Driver costs, equipment costs, insurance costs, travel and food costs may have longer-term legs of reducing the purchasing power of your budget, says HDT's Contributing Economic Analyst Jeff Kauffman.

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