For-hire truck freight tonnage in the United States has returned to its strongest level in three years, according to the American Trucking Associations. The advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index reached 116.2 in February 2026, a 2.6 percent gain from 113.3 in January and the highest reading in three years.

The February figure marked a 2.1 percent increase from a year earlier, the largest year-over-year gain since October 2022. Momentum carried into spring. The index edged up 0.3 percent in March to 117, a 3 percent rise from the same month in 2025.

In April the index held at 117.8, unchanged on the month but still at its highest level since late 2022 and up 3.5 percent year over year. Through the first four months of 2026, tonnage rose 2.6 percent compared with the same period a year earlier.

The index is calculated on a 2015 base of 100 and reflects freight hauled by for-hire carriers, a closely watched gauge of goods-economy activity because trucks move the large majority of domestic freight by weight.

Source: American Trucking Associations - https://www.trucking.org/news-insights/ata-truck-tonnage-index-surged-26-february