December 2020 truck tonnage data, which was issued by the American Trucking Associations (ATA) this week, showed solid growth to finish a year replete with myriad stops and starts, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and economic uncertainty.
The ATA’s advanced Seasonally Adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index for December—at 120 (2015=100)—rose 7.4%, from November to December, following a 3.2% gain, from October to November. The index fell 6.3%, from September to October, and was preceded by a 5.7% uptick, from August to September.
On an annual basis, December’s SA tonnage reading was up 2.3%, and, for calendar year 2020, SA tonnage was off 3.3% annually, erasing the 3.3% annual gain, from 2018 to 2019.
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, came in at 115.9, in December, topping November’s reading by 5.4%.
“Because of the pandemic, 2020 was obviously a very challenging year for the economy overall, and that is reflecting in the tonnage index’s dip from the previous year,” ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said in a statement. “Despite that, truck tonnage clearly outperformed the broader economy as freight continued to move in the face of a myriad of COVID-related challenges faced by the country.”