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Indicators: Tonnage ticked up in January, jumps year over year

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Updated Feb 22, 2018

CCJ‘s Indicators rounds up the latest reports on trucking business indicators on rates, freight, equipment, the economy and more.

The amount of freight moved by the for-hire trucking industry, as measured by the American Trucking Associations‘ monthly Truck Tonnage Index, climbed 2 percent in January from December.

Compared with January 2017, tonnage jumped 8.8 percent — outpacing 2017’s 3.6 percent growth from 2016.

“Last month’s gain in tonnage fit with the anecdotal reports we have been hearing from fleets – that freight was solid in what is typically a softer month,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “With the economy strong, the drivers of truck freight solid, and the inventory cycle in favor of motor carriers, I expect freight tonnage to remain robust in the months ahead.”