IRU member the American Trucking Associations (ATA) has been calculating the tonnage index based on surveys from its membership since the 1970s. Here are the results for July 2025.
Trucking activity in the US increased slightly in July, but activity has been fairly flat since March. Specifically, truck freight tonnage rose 0.6% after falling 0.7% in June, according to ATA’s advanced seasonally adjusted for-hire truck tonnage index.
ATA Chief Economist and IRU Goods Transport Council Vice President Bob Costello said, “July truck tonnage increased sequentially, but did not erase the 0.7% decline in June.”
“Since March, truck tonnage has been in a tight range. The good news is truck freight volumes haven’t fallen much over that period, but we are not seeing many increases either. In July, there were mixed drivers of truck tonnage with housing starts and retail sales up, while manufacturing output was flat to down depending on the metric,” he added.
In July, the ATA advanced seasonally adjusted for-hire truck tonnage index equalled 113.7, up from 113.0 in June. The index, which is based on 2015 as 100, slipped 0.1% from the same month last year after falling 0.4% in June. Year to date, compared with the same period in 2024, tonnage was unchanged.
The not seasonally adjusted index, which calculates raw changes in tonnage hauled, equalled 116.8 in July, 1.9% above June’s reading of 114.6.
Trucking serves as a barometer of the US economy, representing 72.7% of tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transport, including manufactured and retail goods. Trucks hauled 11.27 billion tons of freight in 2024. Motor carriers collected USD 906 billion, or 76.9% of total revenue earned by all transport modes.
Both indices are dominated by contract freight, as opposed to traditional spot market freight.
This story was originally published by ATA.