Truck tonnage sees December declines, reports ATA

Truck tonnage levels contracted to end 2024, according to data issued earlier today by the American Trucking Associations (ATA).

The December reading of the ATA’s advanced Seasonally Adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index came in at 111.3 (2015=100) in December was down compared to November’s 112.6. The SA reading was off 3.2% annually, after a 1% annual decrease in November, which followed a flat reading in October, a 0.9% September decrease and a 0.6% annual gain in August, 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, at 108.8, fell 0.9%, from November to December, came on the heels of a 1.8% November decline. ATA said that this index is dominated by contract freight rather than spot market freight.

“For the first time since March and April truck tonnage contracted for two consecutive months,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “Tonnage fell 1.8% in November, bringing the two-month total decrease to 2.9%, pushing tonnage to its lowest level since January 2024. Sluggishness in factory output continues to weigh on freight volumes, but another drag on the index has been fleet growth at private carriers, which is holding back how much freight is flowing to for-hire carriers.”