March truck tonnage heads down, reports ATA

On the heels of a strong sequential gain, from January to February, truck tonnage took a step back in March, according to data issued earlier this week by the American Trucking Associations (ATA).

The March reading of the ATA’s advanced Seasonally Adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index came in at 113.4 (2015=100), trailing February’s 115.1, while up 0.2% annually, for the third consecutive annual SA gain, marking the first three-month stretch of annual gains since late 2022 and into early 2023.

The ATA’s not seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index, which represents the change in tonnage actually hauled by fleets before any seasonal adjustment and the metric ATA says fleets should benchmark their levels with, came in at 114.6 in March, topping February’s 104.7 reading by 9.5%.

“Solid manufacturing output in March, led by robust auto production, likely helped truck freight tonnage not fall more after a very strong February,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “Overall, in the first quarter, tonnage increased marginally from both the fourth and first quarters of 2024. While the gains were not strong at half a percent and less, it was the first time that the quarterly average increased both sequentially and from a year earlier in two years. That tells me that the freight market did in fact turn around in the first three months of the year despite an uncertain outlook.”