ATA tonnage edges up 0.8% in September to 114 — but the third quarter still finished negative

Truck freight tonnage was relatively flat in September — slightly better than August, no better than a year ago — while capacity kept leaving the market, according to Transport Topics on Oct. 20, reporting the American Trucking Associations' monthly release.

The ATA For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 0.8% in September to 114, from 113.1 in August, and was unchanged from September 2025. The relatively flat results came as trucking capacity continued leaving the market because of regulatory and market factors, ATA reported. The index is calculated from feedback from carriers hauling contract freight, with 2015 as the base year of 100.

"Truck tonnage ended the quarter on a better note, but weakness in July and August pushed the third quarter reading into negative territory both sequentially and from a year earlier," ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said. "We are seeing soft tonnage levels, but capacity is still contracting, which is leading to a better market for motor carriers."

For the year so far, tonnage is up 0.9% through the first nine months of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025 — a gain ATA attributes to robust year-over-year growth from February through April rather than to anything the fall freight season has produced yet. The September print fits the same pattern as the rest of this week's market news: demand is not carrying the recovery, supply is — the tonnage carriers are hauling is flat, and the improvement in their market is coming from how many trucks are no longer competing for it.