The American Trucking Association’s advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased for the second month in a row reporting a 1.4% rise in January following a 1.2% rise in December.
The index has risen 3.3% over the past four months, which is great news for carriers recovering from the 9% drop in April of 2020. The Index, however, remains 4% below the 2019 average.
The Index provides a bird’s-eye view into the U.S. economy, as trucking represents 72.5% of toddage carried by all modes of freight transportation, including manufactured and retail foods. Trucks hauled 11.84 billion tons of freight in 2019, which represented 80.4% of total revenue earned by all transportation modes.