The freight market remains in a recession, according to the most recent figures for cargo flows released by the American Trucking Associations (ATA), which said its advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 1% in November after increasing 0.8% in October.
“We continued to see a choppy 2023 for truck tonnage into November,” ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said in a release. “It seems like every time freight improves, it takes a step back the following month. While year-over-year comparisons are improving, unfortunately, the freight market remains in a recession. Looking ahead, with retail inventories falling, we should see less of a headwind for retail freight, but I’m also not expecting a surge in freight levels in the coming months.”
The numbers also dropped compared to last year, as the latest SA index fell 1.2% compared with November 2022, which was the ninth straight year-over-year decrease. ATA also revised October’s gain down slightly, and said it was down 2.4% from a year earlier.
ATA calculates the tonnage index based on surveys from its membership and has been doing so since the 1970s. The results are an important barometer of the nation’s economic health because trucking represents 72.6% of tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation, including manufactured and retail goods. Trucks hauled 11.46 billion tons of freight in 2022 and collected $940.8 billion, or 80.7% of total revenue earned by all transport modes, ATA said.
