It was a weak year for the trucking sector for 2023, though the picture brightened a bit as the year ended.
This week, the American Trucking Associations (ATA) released its Freight Tonnage Index for December, with a solid 2.1% gain. That rise after the index fell 1.4% in November.
Supply Chain Digest Says...
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That would imply 2024 might be a good one for carriers, based on historical patterns.
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However, tonnage was down a small 0.5% versus December 2022, making it the tenth straight year-over-year decrease.
For the full year 2023, the ATA index was down a modest 1.7% versus 2022, but that was the first year a decline since 2020 in the face of the pandemic.
"While 2023 ended on a better note, truck tonnage remained in a recession as it continued to fall on a year-over-year basis," said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello.
We next turn to the monthly report from Cass and partner Tim Denoyer of ACT Research, which is based on data from the billions of dollars of freight bills that Cass pays for its shipper clients.
The Cass Shipments Index, which covers several modes but is weighted towards full truckload, increased 2.1% month-over month in seasonally adjusted terms, but was down 7.2% versus December 2022, after an 8.9% year-over-year decline in November.
After rising a scant 0.6% in 2022, the index declined 5.5% in 2023.
Cass notes that “US freight volumes, as measured by the Cass Freight Index, have fallen for most of the past two years, similar to prior downcycles in both length and magnitude."
That would imply 2024 might be a good one for carriers, based on historical patterns.
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Each month, Cass nicely summarizes the state of freight, as seen in the graphic below for December:
Source: Cass Information System
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