On Tuesday, 17 February 2026, around 2 billion people will celebrate the start of a lunar new year. The lunar calendar marks each year with one of 12 animals, and 2026 moves from the Year of the Snake – a biodiversity hero in its own right – to that of the horse.   Horses have quietly shaped their environments for more than 50 million years and accompanied human development for the past 4 millennia. Every July, these creatures are honored on World Horse Day, and this year is also the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, recognizing specific types of communities and ecosystems that have been critically supported by horses. Horses are ecosystem engineers Horses improve the environment for other species – if managed sustainably Horses are resilience in action Horses are stronger together

“For the first time since March and April truck tonnage contracted for two consecutive months,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “Tonnage fell 1.8% in November, bringing the two-month total decrease to 2.9%, pushing tonnage to its lowest level since January 2024. Sluggishness in factory output continues to weigh on freight volumes, but another drag on the index has been fleet growth at private carriers, which is holding back how much freight is flowing to for-hire carriers.” In December, the ATA advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index equaled 111.3 compared with 112.6 in November. The index, which is based on 2015 as 100, was down 3.2% from the same month last year. The not seasonally adjusted index, which calculates raw changes in tonnage hauled, equaled 108.8 in December, 0.9% below November. The seasonally adjusted decrease follows a sequential 1.8% drop in November, which was revised up from the December 24 press release.