AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report 6/20/25

“After declines in November and December totaling 1.7%, tonnage was unchanged in January” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “This outcome is impressive considering the massive winter storm that brought cold temperatures and significant snowfalls to large parts of the country, including those that rarely see such storms. Furthermore, the terrible wildfires in California likely also caused freight disruptions. Softness in manufacturing and retail sales continue to be a drag on truck freight volumes as well, so the fact tonnage was flat is a positive sign.” In January, the ATA advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index equaled 111.9 the same as December. The index, which is based on 2015 as 100, was up 0.3% from the same month last year, the first year-over-year increase since August. The not seasonally adjusted index, which calculates raw changes in tonnage hauled, equaled 110 in January, 1.1% above December’s reading of 108.9.

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 2.3% in October after rising 0.8% in September. In October, the index equaled 116.3 (2015=100) versus 119.1 in September. "For-hire truck tonnage saw the largest single monthly decrease in October since the start of the pandemic,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “The decrease fits with the anecdotal reports of a muted fall freight season. It also coincides with a slowing economy. Housing is a weak spot in freight in addition to a slowing in personal consumption of goods. While factory related freight is holding up better than other areas, it is also decelerating.” Compared with October 2021, the SA index increased 2.8%, which was the fourteenth straight year-over-year gain, but the smallest gain since April. In September, the index was up 5.7% from a year earlier. Year-to-date through October, compared with the same period in 2021, tonnage was up 3.9%.