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SAN DIEGO — American Trucking Associations revealed Oct. 25 that it estimates the shortfall of professional drivers has decreased slightly to 78,000 for this year.

Truck tonnage in January rose 1.2% when measured against year-ago levels, marking the fifth consecutive month for a year-over-year increase, American Trucking Associations said.

Three core economic sectors of trucking are showing strength, but disruption from the omicron variant of the coronavirus hangs over the industry as it heads into 2022, American Trucking Associations Chief Economist Bob Costello said.

A Department of Commerce advisory group is urging federal officials to lead a widespread effort to address the nationwide shortage of truck drivers, which the panel said has “likely reached an all-time high.”

Truck tonnage in June inched up 0.5% compared with year-ago levels, a slowdown compared with recent months amid a tempering of freight activity nationwide, according to American Trucking Associations’ For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index.

2021 welcomes a new administration and offers a new climate in which to negotiate freight hauling, but it must also contend with some of 2020's ailments, including a continuing pandemic and the wildly disparate performance of different business sectors. ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello joins TT's Dan Ronan to discuss this interesting economic moment and what it means for the trucking industry.

The U.S. economy, which had begun to improve, is now in jeopardy of stalling amid rising cases of COVID-19 infections.

Sign up to watch replays of our previous webcasts with American Trucking Associations Chief Economist Bob Costello and Nikola founder and executive chairman Trevor Milton.

INDIANAPOLIS — Bob Costello isn’t sure that a recession — a downturn that could impact freight and trucking companies across North America — is coming, or when, but the economist senses something is amiss.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The U.S. trucking industry is enjoying its best business environment since deregulation in 1980, and the good times will continue in the near term unless trade disputes hinder economic growth, American Trucking Associations Chief Economist Bob Costello said.