Truck tonnage rebounds in October, reports American Trucking Associations

October truck tonnage volumes saw gains after falling in September, according to data issued today by the American Trucking Associations (ATA) this week.

The ATA’s advanced Seasonally Adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index, for October, at 115.2 (2015=100), was 1.1%, from September to October, reversing the 1.1% decrease, from August to September, which came in at 113.9.

On an annual basis, the October SA reading was down 2.1%, marking the eighth straight annual decrease, following September’s 4.1% annual decrease, the largest decrease over that span.

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 119.7 in October, topping September’s 112.5 reading by 6.3%.

ATA bases its NSA tonnage reading on a baseline with 100 representing 2015, adding that the For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index dominated by contract freight as opposed to spot market freight.

“After hitting a floor in April, tonnage has slowly and inconsistently improved, but remains 3% below its recent peak in September 2022,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello in a statement. “Despite the monthly gain, truck freight remains soft as it continues to contract on a year-over-year basis. It is important to remember that our for-hire truck freight index, which includes both truckload and LTL freight, is dominated by contract freight with minimal amounts of spot market loads. The traditional spot market remains much weaker than contract tonnage.”