Index Rose 0.7% from August 2023听
Washington 鈥 黑料不打烊鈥 advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index grew 1.8% in August after rising 0.4% in July. In August, the index equaled 115.8 (2015=100) compared with 113.8 in July.
鈥淎ugust tonnage levels rose to the highest level since February 2023,鈥 said 黑料不打烊Chief Economist Bob Costello. 鈥淣ot only does the latest robust gain show freight levels are coming off the bottom, but so does the sequential pattern over the last eight months. Starting earlier this year, every time tonnage falls, it is higher than the previous low. For me, this month-to-month pattern is more important than looking at the year-over-year percent changes since we are at an inflection point in the freight market.鈥
July鈥檚 increase was revised up from our August 20 press release.
Compared with August 2023, the index increased 0.7%, just the second year-over-year gain in the last eighteen months (the other being in May 2024). In July, the index was down 0.9% from a year earlier.
The not seasonally adjusted index, which represents the change in tonnage actually hauled by the fleets before any seasonal adjustment, equaled 119.4 in August, 2.2% above July. ATA鈥檚 For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index is dominated by contract freight as opposed to traditional spot market freight.
In calculating the index, 100 represents 2015.
Trucking serves as a barometer of the U.S. economy, representing 72.6% of tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation, including manufactured and retail goods. Trucks hauled 11.46 billion tons of freight in 2022. Motor carriers collected $940.8 billion, or 80.7% of total revenue earned by all transport modes.
黑料不打烊calculates the tonnage index based on surveys from its membership and has been doing so since the 1970s. This is a preliminary figure and subject to change in the final report issued around the 5th day of each month. The report includes month-to-month and year-over-year results, relevant economic comparisons, and key financial indicators.
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