Tonnage numbers have been on the decline for a long while now. They have hit a new rock bottom. As reported by Transport Topics, the drop-off is quite alarming. In terms of year-to-year analysis, there have been 13 months of drops. The ATA For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index also dropped. It was a 1% drop year over year to 113.4, the second-smallest drop during the 13 months.  

The Numbers 

The March numbers could have been better. They are not promising at all. The recession has continued through the first quarter. The ATA's tonnage index dipped by 0.8% from the past quarter and dropped by 2.4% compared to the previous year. This highlights the challenges that trucking is facing.  

The index comes from the members' survey. It comprises the contract freight and not the spot market. The Logistics Managers' Index is looking good. It registered at 58.3 for March compared with 56.5 in February. That was the fastest expansion recorded since September 2022. The report shows that the logistics industry is healthy. This is in comparison to the recent past. At the moment, the numbers are not as inflated as they used to be. It was full of unwanted inventories and high warehouse costs.  

Transportation price index

To come up with the stats, they look at utilization, transportation capacity, and transportation prices. In the first three months of the year, the two were expanded. That means there was higher pricing and more utilization. They are not permanent. They keep changing, especially transportation pricing. The index shows the rate of change on a scale of 100. If the number hits above 50, then it shows that the logistics sector is growing. On the contrary, a number below 50 shows there is a contraction.  

So far, there has been growth in this sector. No one would expect it to be so. It is on the back of a severe decline in 2023. There was only one way to go after such a year. It ended with lots of room for growth. The only challenge is that the development has been slow. They would have hoped slower. The growth has been steady but slow. The utilization rate has also been on a slow rise. The numbers have yet to hit above 50.  

The index for transportation prices was 53 in March, up from 57.6 in February. Reports are optimistic that the expansion is still ongoing. It also comes after many months of contraction. Transportation utilization improved a bit while capacity dipped, also just slightly. The economy was never at its best last year. It kept slowing, but not as fast as people had feared. However, the drop-off was much sharper in trucking.