ATA Truck Tonnage Index Inches Down in December
[Stay on top of transportation news: Get TTNews in your inbox.]
The freight market finished the year on a downward slope as tonnage declined on both a monthly and annual basis in December, American Trucking Associations reported.
The ATA For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 1.1% to 111.3 last month from 112.6 in November and declined 3.2% compared with December 2023 on a seasonally adjusted basis. The entire year of 2024 was a mix of sequential increases and declines with the market still searching for stability as carriers continue to contend with sluggish volumes.
“For the first time since March and April, truck tonnage contracted for two consecutive months,” ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said in a Jan. 21 release. “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.”
Costello
Not adjusting for seasonality, tonnage declined 0.9% sequentially to 108.8 in December, which followed a revised 1.8% drop in November.
ATA calculates its monthly tonnage index based on membership surveys. The feedback primarily comes from contract freight rather than spot market freight. In calculating the index, 100 represents 2015.
Per ATA, trucks hauled 11.27 billion tons of freight in 2024. That represents 72.7% of tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation. Motor carriers collected $906 billion last year, or 76.9% of total revenue earned by all transport modes.
Want more news? Listen to today's daily briefing below or go here for more info:
