American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 3.5% in January after increasing 1.2% in December.
In January, the index equaled 111.0 (2015=100) compared with 115.0 in December, ATA said.
“January’s data was a snap back to reality for anyone thinking the freight market was about to turn the corner,” Bob Costello, ATA chief economist, said in a news release. “Bad winter weather in January likely hurt volumes, not to mention sharp drops in a number of drivers of tonnage including retail sales, housing starts, and manufacturing output.”
Compared with January 2023, the SA index fell 4.7%, which was the 11th straight year-over-year decrease, ATA reported. In December, the index was down 0.8% from a year earlier.
The not-seasonally adjusted index, which represents the change in tonnage hauled by fleets before seasonal adjustments, equaled 109.4 in January, 0.7% below December’s level (110.2). In calculating the index, 100 represents 2015. ATA’s For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index is dominated by contract freight as opposed to spot market freight.
Trucking serves as a barometer of the U.S. economy, representing 72.6% of tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation, including manufactured and retail goods. Trucks hauled 11.46 billion tons of freight in 2022. Motor carriers collected $940.8 billion, or 80.7% of total revenue earned by all transport modes.
ATA calculates the tonnage index based on surveys from its membership and has been doing so since the 1970s.