For-hire truck tonnage in the United States reached its strongest level in nearly four years, signaling a steady recovery in freight demand. The American Trucking Associations reported that its seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index registered 117.8 in April 2026, holding at the highest reading since 2022 and rising 3.5 percent compared with April 2025. In March the index stood at 117.0, up from 116.6 in February, and that month 3 percent year-over-year gain was the largest since October 2022.

The first quarter of 2026 marked the sector best performance, on both a sequential and year-over-year basis, since the third quarter of 2017. Through the first four months of the year, tonnage rose 2.6 percent against the same period a year earlier.

The index measures the total tonnage hauled by motor carriers each month and is weighted heavily toward contract freight rather than spot-market loads, making it a closely watched gauge of underlying demand. Trucking moves the majority of domestic freight, accounting for 72.7 percent of tonnage carried by all modes in the United States, which is why the tonnage trend is often read as a barometer for the broader economy.

The sustained gains follow a prolonged freight downturn, and the readings suggest contract volumes are firming as carriers move past the softest stretch of the cycle.

Source: American Trucking Associations - https://www.trucking.org/news-insights/ata-truck-tonnage-index-unchanged-april