COMMENT: Carriers are ordering trucks again

Data released by the ATA measuring December’s truck tonnage is eye-opening. Showing an increase of 11.3% year-on-year, December’s figures represent the strongest rate of growth since March 2010, and a three-month moving average of 9.1%. All told, the last quarter of 2013 marked the most buoyant truck freight environment since 1998. With truck orders for December up in excess of 50% both sequentially and year-on-year, we now have two data points that argue for an improved trading environment for the North American trucking industry.