ATA: Truck tonnage up ‘slightly’ in January

Trucking activity in the United States increased slightly in January, but volumes remained at low levels after significant declines in September and October, according to the latest data from the American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index.

Specifically, truck freight tonnage increased 0.4% after falling 0.2% in December, ATA reported.

“Tonnage has lifted off the recent bottom in October with modest gains in November and January,” Bob Costello, ATA chief economist, said in a news release. “However, truck freight tonnage in January was down 1.3% from the 2025 high point in August. The trucking recovery story is more of a supply-side one with those motor carriers remaining benefiting from reduced overall capacity.”

In January, the ATA advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index equaled 113.0, up from 112.5 in December. The index, which is based on 2015 as 100, increased 0.5% from the same month in 2025. In 2025, the tonnage index was flat compared to the 2024 average.

The not seasonally adjusted index, which calculates raw changes in tonnage hauled, equaled 108.3 in January, 2.5% below December’s reading of 111.1.

Trucking serves as a barometer of the U.S. economy, representing 72.7% of tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation, including manufactured and retail goods. Trucks hauled 11.27 billion tons of freight in 2024. Motor carriers collected $906 billion, or 76.9% of total revenue earned by all transport modes.

Both indices are dominated by contract freight, as opposed to traditional spot market freight. The tonnage index is calculated on surveys from its membership and has been doing so since the 1970s.