ATA: March Truck Tonnage Slides 2% on Month, 1% Lower YoY


   
   OAKHURST, N.J. (DTN) --- American Trucking Associations' advanced seasonally 
adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index declined 2% to 113.4 in March after 
increasing 4% in February, which was revised down slightly from the initial 
estimate.

   "Tonnage in March suggests that truck freight volumes remain lackluster, and 
it is clear the truck freight recession continued through the first quarter," 
said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. "In the first three months of 2024, 
ATA's tonnage index contracted 0.8% from the previous quarter and declined 2.4% 
from a year earlier, highlighting ongoing challenges the industry is 
navigating."

   The not seasonally adjusted index, which represents the change in tonnage 
actually hauled by the fleets before any seasonal adjustment, equaled 114.4 in 
March, 4.7% higher than in February. ATA's For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index is 
dominated by contract freight as opposed to spot market freight.

   Compared with March 2023, the SA index fell 1%, which was the 13th 
consecutive year-over-year decline, but the second smallest over that period. 
In February, the index was down 1.7% from a year earlier.

   Trucking services 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. ATA calculates the tonnage index based on surveys from 
its membership and has been doing so since the 1970s.




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