ATA tonnage posts first annual gain in 15 months
American Trucking Associations said in June 2024 that its seasonally adjusted tonnage index rose 3.6% in May, though its economist said a recovery was not yet clear.
In June 2024, American Trucking Associations reported that its advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index rose 3.6% in May after falling 1% in April. ATA released the figures on June 18.
The index stood at 115.9 in May, compared with 111.9 in April. The index uses 2015 as its base of 100.
Up from a year earlier
Compared with May 2023, the index rose 1.5%. ATA said it was the first year-over-year gain in 15 months. In April, the index had been down 1.3% from a year earlier.
"May was the first month since February 2023 that tonnage increased both sequentially and from a year earlier," said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello.
The not seasonally adjusted index, which tracks tonnage actually hauled before any seasonal adjustment, was 120.4 in May, 7.1% above April.
ATA said April's decline was revised up slightly from the figure in its May 21 release. ATA described the May number as preliminary and subject to change.
A cautious read
Costello said there was "clearly an increase in freight before the Memorial Day holiday." He added that "it is still too early to say whether this is the start of a long-awaited recovery in the truck freight market."
About the index
ATA's tonnage index is dominated by contract freight rather than spot market freight. ATA calculates it from surveys of its members and has done so since the 1970s.
ATA said trucks carried 72.6% of the tonnage moved by all modes of domestic freight transportation. Trucks hauled 11.46 billion tons of freight in 2022, and motor carriers collected $940.8 billion, or 80.7% of revenue earned by all transport modes.
What it meant for carriers
Because the index is weighted toward contract freight, the May reading reflected loads moving under contract rather than on the spot market. It was the first month in more than a year in which tonnage grew both from the prior month and from the prior year. ATA's own economist cautioned that one month was not enough to call a turn in the truck freight market.