The assessment is based on exceptionally strong and consistent evidence from multiple sources. Two highly authoritative and relevant industry news publications, Transport Topics and Equipment Finance Advisor, directly and explicitly confirm that the Cass Freight Index for shipments decreased by 7.5% year-over-year in December. This core evidence is corroborated by several other sources of lower authority, which repeat the exact same figure. Crucially, there is no conflicting evidence among the provided sources; no source offers a different number or suggests the claim is inaccurate. Sources that mention the Cass report without providing the specific year-over-year figure still report a general market slowdown, which is consistent with the statement. The presence of irrelevant data concerning a different freight index was noted and disregarded. The high degree of consistency across multiple independent and credible sources makes the statement very likely to be true.