U.S. trucks hauled slightly more freight in October than September, according to the monthly For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index from the American Trucking Associations (ATA), released this week. ATA’s seasonally adjusted index rose 0.4% in October following a 2.2% increase in September. The index was up 1.8% compared to October 2020, the largest year-over-year gain since May.
ATA’s Chief Economist Bob Costello credited solid retail sales, inventory rebuilding, and generally higher factory output for the gains, saying they offset softer growth in other areas, including home construction. “Economic growth remains on solid footing, which is good for truck freight volumes going forward,” Costello said in a press statement. “The largest problem for the industry isn’t the amount of demand, but making sure we have adequate supply. It is good to see that fleets were able to haul more tonnage in recent months in the face of constrained supply.” October’s not seasonally adjusted index, which represents the change in tonnage actually hauled by fleets before any seasonal adjustment, was 2.6% above the September level. ATA says its monthly For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index is dominated by contract freight as opposed to spot market freight. The index is calculated from surveys of ATA members.
