February Truck Tonnage Index is flat, reports ATA

Following a small January gain, truck tonnage was flat in February, according to data issued today by the American Trucking Associations (ATA).

The ATA’s advanced Seasonally Adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index, for February, matched February, at 115.3 (2015=100), which was slightly revised from an initial reading of 115.5. January saw a 0.6% increase and was preceded by a 0.9% gain in December, to finish 2021.

On an annual basis, SA tonnage saw a 4.2% annual gain, marking the sixth consecutive month of annual gains, which was preceded by a 1.5% annual gain in December. And for all of 2021, SA tonnage was up 0.3% annually, while 2020 tonnage was down 4% compared to 2019.  

The ATA’s not seasonally-adjusted (NSA) index, which represents the change in tonnage actually hauled by fleets before any seasonal adjustment and the metric ATA says fleets should benchmark their levels with, was 104.3 in February, a 4.3% decline compared to January’s 109. ATA’s For-Hire Truck tonnage Index is dominated by contract freight rather than spot market freight.

“February was the first month that the index didn’t increase since July,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello in a statement. “Despite a string of gains, the index is still off 1.8% from March 2020. The index is also off 4.2% from the all-time high in August 2019. Demand for trucking freight services remains strong, but for-hire contract carriers are capacity constrained due to the driver and equipment markets. The spot market has been surging as these carriers can’t haul all of the freight they are asked to move,” he said. “So, the fact that the tonnage index hasn’t fully recovered is a supply problem, not a lack of demand. Other ATA data shows that for-hire carriers are operating around 7% fewer trucks, both company and independent contractor equipment, than prior to the pandemic.”