U.S. for-hire truck tonnage grew 1% in December, on the heels of a revised 0.5% increase in November, according to the latest data from the American Trucking Associations (ATA).

“December’s gain was the fifth straight totaling 4.4%,” said ATA chief economist Bob Costello. “In December, tonnage reached the highest level since March, but it was still 2.7% below the pre-pandemic high. This is likely due to the fact ATA’s data is dominated by contract freight. Contractor truckload carriers operated fewer trucks in 2021 compared with 2020 and it is difficult to haul significantly more tonnage with fewer trucks. But overall, we have seen a nice trend up that is reflective of a still growing goods-economy.” 

The truck tonnage index was up 1.4% year over year, ATA reports, marking the fourth straight month of y-o-y increases.