Truck tonnage is flat in January, ATA reports

Coming off of a December decline, truck tonnage levels were flat in January to start 2025, according to data issued earlier today by the American Trucking Associations (ATA).

The January reading of the ATA’s advanced Seasonally Adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index came in at 111.9, matching December’s reading, and was up 0.3% annually, marking the first annual gain going back to August 2024— which is only the second annual gain over the last 20 months, with the other one coming last May.

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 110 in January, for a 1.1% increase over December’s 108.9.

ATA said both of these indices are “dominated by contract freight, as opposed to traditional spot market freight,” with the tonnage index data calculated on surveys from ATA members.

“After declines in November and December totaling 1.7%, tonnage was unchanged in January” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “This outcome is impressive considering the massive winter storm that brought cold temperatures and significant snowfalls to large parts of the country, including those that rarely see such storms. Furthermore, the terrible wildfires in California likely also caused freight disruptions. Softness in manufacturing and retail sales continue to be a drag on truck freight volumes as well, so the fact tonnage was flat is a positive sign.”