Tonnage News Updates

The freight market gained some momentum in September, as shrinking capacity helped offset flat demand and pressure from fuel costs.

The ATA For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index fell 0.5% from July to 112.7, down from 113.3. The index also declined 1.6% year over year.

American Trucking Associations' For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index also showed that tonnage was up 1.4% during the first seven months of the year compared with 2025.

The ATA For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 0.1% from the prior month to 113.1. But the latest result also marked a decline of 0.1% from last year.

The ATA For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index contracted 2% from the previous month to 114.4. The reading was 0.6% above the number reported in May 2025.

The ATA For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index was unchanged from the prior month at 117.8. The index also was 3.5% above where it was during April 2025.

Truck tonnage posted its largest year-over-year gain in more than three years in March and delivered the best quarterly result in almost a decade, ATA said.

Freight tonnage in February reached its highest level in three years, American Trucking Associations reported March 24.

The ATA For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 0.4% in January to 113 from 112.5 in December as the industry regained some freight activity it lost in 2025.

Freight tonnage remained constrained with a slight sequential improvement in December, failing to overcome its generally lower levels, American Trucking Associations reported Jan. 20.