November truck tonnage heads up, reports ATA

Truck tonnage readings saw gains in November, according to data issued today by the American Trucking Associations (ATA).

The ATA’s advanced Seasonally Adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index for November—at 114.5 (2015=100)—increased 1.3%, following a 0.4% October gain.

On an annual basis, November’s SA tonnage reading saw a 2.5% increase, representing the largest annual gain going back to May. It topped October’s 1.8% annual gain, and on a year-to-date basis, ATA said SA tonnage is up 0.3% compared to the first 11 months of 2020.

The ATA’s not seasonally-adjusted (NSA) 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, for November, came in at 114.7, trailing October’s 115.8 reading by 0.9%.

“November’s gain was the fourth straight, totaling 4.3%, and the tonnage level was the highest since April,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello in a statement. “The recent streak is very good, but it should be noted that from April through July the index fell a total of 4.6%, so we are not quite back to where we were last spring. With that said, the index saw the largest gain from a year earlier since May. In November, strong factory output and housing starts helped push the index higher.”