Commerce Express Weekly Road Map:
March 25th, 2025
Keeping you informed on the latest news/insights in our industry.
What Did Truck Tonnage in February Look Like?
The month of February saw a 3% gain in truck tonnage, according to American Trucking Associations (ATA).
The ATA’s seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index was 115.2, which is an increase from 111.9 in January, their report indicates. On a non-seasonally adjusted front, the index was 104.8, a decrease from January (110).
ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said, “some of the gain in February was due to accelerated imports early in the year as shippers rushed to bring products into the U.S. before tariffs hit.”
The Cass Freight Index, which also measures freight activity, showed February up 10.5% month-over-month, but a decrease of 5.5% from February 2024. Like ATA, Cass attributed some of these gains to the front-loading of shipments due to looming tariffs.
Commerce Blog
In the modern day, all marketplaces are vulnerable to this phenomenon, including the trucking industry. Since the days when the first fleets of commercial trucks hit the roads, cargo theft has afflicted stakeholders: carriers; brokers; shippers; and government agencies.
However, gone are the days of crowbars and broken padlocks. The advent of more technologically advanced, and subsequently dependent, supply chains has led to an evolution in the execution of cargo theft. Today, instances of it are smarter, faster, more cunning, more deceiving, and more prevalent than any other period in trucking’s history.
Diesel update: The average price of diesel increased, this time by 1.8 cents a gallon. Putting the average price of diesel at $3.567, per the U.S. EIA. The only region seeing a decrease in diesel was the East Coast (dropping 0.4 cents). While the Midwest (up 2.8 cents), West Coast (up 2.6 cents), Gulf Coast (up 2 cents), and the Rocky Mountain (up 3.9 cents) regions all saw diesel prices boosting.
Tariffs:
Canada and Mexico: President Trump has delayed the 25% tariffs on imports (including automotive products) from Mexico and Canada until April 2nd, per Executive Orders.
During this one-month delay, importers will not be required to pay tariffs on imports from either Mexico and/or Canada, that adhere to the U.S. – Mexico – Canada Agreement. Per NBC News, that’s about 50% from Mexico and 38% of goods from Canada.
Steel/Aluminum: New tariffs on steel and aluminum went into effect March 12th at 12:01am EST.
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