American Trucking Associations

Annualized turnover rate for large and small truckload carriers was up in the third quarter.

The ATA’s advanced seasonally-adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index for October, at 118.1 (2015=100), fell 0.3% off of September’s 118.5 reading, which was upwardly revised from an initial reading of 117.6. 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, came in at 125.4 (2015=100), topping September by 8.4%.

The ATA’s advanced seasonally-adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index for August, at 118.3 (2015=100), fell 3.2% on the heels of a 6.2% July increase.

While it is well known that 2018 was a banner year for the trucking sector, it bears repeating. And one reason for that is that even though 2019 is down volume-wise compared to a year ago, there are still many reasons for optimism, when it comes to gauging the overall health of the market.

In this analysis, we focus only on drivers of Class 8 tractor-trailers, this is where the bulk of the truck driver shortage prevails.

The decades-old driver shortage in the trucking industry is like a toothache that you ignore - it tends just to get worse and worse without treatment.

In 2018, trucking industry revenue rose 12.2%, from $700.1 billion in 2017 to $796.7 billion in 2018, according to ATA data.

The first quarter turnover rate for large fleets with more than $30 million in revenue increased 5% to 83%, which was lower than the 2018 average rate of 89% and down 11% compared to the first quarter of 2018. For small fleets, the ATA said the turnover rate fell 4% to 73%, from the first quarter to the second quarter.

The ATA’s advanced seasonally-adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index for May, at 114 (2015=100) fell 6.1% compared to April’s 121.8, which was up 7% over March. And compared to May 2018, SA tonnage eked out a 0.9% gain, which ATA said marks its smallest annual SA tonnage gain going back to April 2017.

With a sharp eye on furthering the infrastructure outlook in the United States and an objective of advocating for the next long-term surface transportation authorization, the American Trucking Associations (ATA) said this week it is rolling out a media an advocacy campaign focused on the “personal toll of the nation’s deteriorating infrastructure and the trucking industry’s demand that the federal government step up its investment into [U.S.] roads and bridges.”

A recent report issued by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics questions if the driver shortage is as bad as it purported to be within industry circles.

Truck tonnage volumes in January got 2019 off to a good start, according to data issued by the American Trucking Associations (ATA) today.

Infrastructure is having a good month in Washington. Lobbyists and lawmakers are eagerly optimistic about a bill coming out of Congress this year. And President Donald J. Trump talked up infrastructure a bit during his State of the Union address.

According to American Trucking Associations quarterly report, the turnover rate at truckload carriers surged in the second quarter of 2017 possibly reflecting a tightening market for drivers.

Both freight spend and shipment levels for the third quarter showed both quarterly and annual gains, according to data issued in the U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index, a new report form Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank.