According to the American Trucking Associations, trucking activity decreased 0.5% in August after falling 1.2% in July.

“The truck market has certainly flipped this year, but recent tonnage levels confirm this is due to reduced capacity, not robust demand,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello in a statement.

“Truck tonnage was down in four of the last five months. It is down 4.3% from the recent peak in March, and it has fallen from year-earlier levels in three of the last four months. Because of all the supply constraints, however, the market is generally better.”

In August, the ATA advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index equaled 112.7, down from 113.3 in July. The index, which is based on 2015 as 100, decreased 1.6% from the same month in 2025, which was worse than July’s 0.7% decline.

Year-to-date, compared with the same period in 2025, tonnage is up 1% due to robust year-over-year increases from February through April. 

The not seasonally adjusted index, which calculates raw changes in tonnage hauled, equaled 116.1 in August, 0.6% below July’s reading of 116.7. 

The association notes that trucking serves as a barometer of the U.S. economy, representing 72.7% of tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation, including manufactured and retail goods. Trucks hauled 11.27 billion tons of freight in 2024.*  Motor carriers collected $906 billion, or 76.9% of total revenue earned by all transport modes.