Trucking activity in the United States slipped in May as the freight market remained choppy. Specifically, truck freight tonnage decreased 0.1% after gaining 0.5% in April, according to the American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index. “The seesaw freight demand pattern continued in April, making it difficult to discern any clear pattern in the market,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “Excluding the services economy — the largest part of economic activity— the goods market is all over the map, thus impacting freight levels. Construction is soft, manufacturing is up and down, and consumers are cautious.” In May, the ATA advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index equaled 113.8, down from 113.9 in April. The index, which is based on 2015 as 100, was down 1.3% from the same month last year, the first year-over-year decrease in 2025. Year-to-date, compared with the same period in 2024, tonnage was up 0.1%.

Futures in New York rose as much as 0.6 percent after adding 2.5 percent in the past three sessions. An industry report showed U.S. inventories fell last week, with government data Wednesday forecast to show a fourth straight drop. Crude’s recent gains have been driven by fighting between the Iraqi government and Kurdish forces in the oil-rich Kirkuk region, which could stoke tensions beyond the country’s borders. Iraq is just one of the oil market’s geopolitical risks, with uncertainty also growing over tensions between Iran and the U.S., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said Tuesday. The Persian Gulf nation said it would support an extension of OPEC output cuts to the end of 2018 and insisted its production plans won’t be disrupted by U.S. President Donald Trump’s disavowal of the nuclear deal that’s boosted its exports. Click Read More below for additional information.