Trucking news and briefs for Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025:
Truck tonnage unchanged from December to January
Trucking activity in the United States was unchanged in January, despite a myriad of factors that depressed freight volumes around the country, according to the American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index.
“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.”
After declining in November and December, ATA's Truck Tonnage Index was unchanged in January.American Trucking Associations
Costello added that softness in other areas, including 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, 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.
[Related: Freight analysts forecast headwinds of uncertainty around tariffs, could yield slow-growth 2025]
Trucking conditions remained positive to close 2024
Trucking market conditions declined from November to December, according to FTR’s Trucking Conditions Index (TCI), but the index remained in positive territory with a reading of 2.67.
The decrease from November’s 3.02 reading was minimal, but FTR noted that the underlying factors changed substantially. Freight rates in December were considerably more unfavorable for carriers than they were in November, but the contributions from freight volume and capacity utilization were much improved.
While FTR’s forecast for trucking conditions envisions near-term weakness due to fuel prices and freight rates, the firm expects the TCI to be consistently positive by Q2. “Preliminary data suggests that market conditions were tough for carriers in January, but we still forecast consistently favorable market conditions for carriers to begin soon,” said Avery Vise, FTR’s vice president of trucking. “Freight rates have been sluggish, however, so the risk of a slower recovery than currently forecast is significant.”
Vise added that economic data volatility as a result of “tariff expectations and response from businesses and consumers injects further uncertainty into the outlook.”
Even still, FTR is “confident in modestly stronger conditions for trucking companies at least by the second half of the year.”
[Related: Brokers' contract nickel-and-diming incentivizing speed, fatigue?]
Used-truck sales mixed to start 2025
The Class 8 used truck sales market saw a decline in January from December, according to a preliminary monthly report from ACT Research, when factoring in same dealer retail sales, auction sales and wholesale transactions.
While used Class 8 same dealer sales volumes were up 16% in January from December, prices were up 3% as miles and age each fell 2%.ACT Research
“The new year got off to a strong start for used truck retail sales, up 16% month over month, easily outpacing typical seasonality, which called for a decrease of 11% month over month,” said Steve Tam, Vice President at ACT Research. “On the other hand, preliminary auction activity decreased from December by 59%. In stark contrast, wholesale transactions mushroomed, increasing 22% year over year.”
With all of those sales numbers combined, used truck sales actually fell 31% from December, Tam noted.
“Declining new truck sales in Q4 ’24 are one possible factor that contributed to lower used truck sales in January,” he added. “Weather, along with economic and political uncertainty, come to mind as potential causes.”
Trucker recognized for helping at scene of head-on crash
Tommy Burgoon, a truck driver out of Wapakoneta, Ohio, for ABF Freight, has been named a Highway Angel by the Truckload Carriers Association for stopping to help during a horrific early morning crash in Ohio.
Tommy Burgoon
“I came up on a wreck that just happened,” he said. “I’m pretty sure they were going 70 miles an hour driving straight into each other. I just know [the car] was on the wrong side of the highway and went head-on with that truck.”
Burgoon rushed out of his truck to the car that was on fire, helped extinguish the flames that were surrounding the driver’s feet, extinguished the remaining flames on the front of his car, cut the seatbelt of the driver, and got him to safety with the help of first responders. The driver had serious injuries, including a severely hurt left arm and facial gashes.
“I got his seatbelt undone, but I don’t think there would have been any way we could’ve pried him out of there,” the 10-year truck driver said. “He was in there pretty good.”
Burgoon said his Army training kicked in and that he was happy to stop and help because he would want someone else to do the same for a member of his family.
“You do what you can do,” he said. “There’s no way I could just leave him in there; it’s absurd to me to even think that.”
[Related: Owner-operator and Highway Hero finalist Brian Bucenell ends a police chase]
