Trucking activity in the United States surged 3% in February, the American Trucking Associations (ATA) reported Tuesday in its For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index. The jump marks the largest sequential increase in several years following a slight decline in January.
“After a scant 0.1% decline in January, which wasn’t bad considering the harsh winter weather and California wildfires, truck tonnage had a robust gain in February” says ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “This outcome fits well with our growing optimism for the truck freight market after a two-year recession.
“Some of the gain in February was due to accelerated imports early in the year as shippers rushed to bring products into the U.S. before tariffs hit. Even accounting for this, the first two months of the year were positive, all things considered, indicating that the freight recovery has indeed begun.”
[RELATED: FTR webinar tackles tariffs and the uncertainty they cause]
In February, the ATA advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index equaled 115.2, up from 111.9 in January. The index, which is based on 2015 as 100, was up 0.6% from the same month last year, the second straight year-over-year increase, which hasn’t happened since early 2023. ATA adds the not seasonally adjusted index, which calculates raw changes in tonnage hauled, equaled 104.8 in February, 4.7% below January’s reading of 110.0.
ATA also recently revised the seasonally adjusted index back five years as part of its annual revision.
