Freight tonnage to rise 23.5% over next decade

   Freight tonnage will rise 23.5 percent between 2013 and 2025, as freight revenue increases by 72 percent during the same period, according to the American Trucking Associations’ “U.S. Freight Transportation Forecast to 2025.”
   The forecast, which is produced with the assistance of IHS Global Insight, shows that trucking’s share of that freight will increase to 71.4 percent from 2013’s share of 69.1 percent.
   For the next five years, truck volume will rise by 3.5 percent annually, but will slow to a yearly growth rate of 1.2 percent from 2020 to 2025.
   Even though rail intermodal tonnage is predicted to increase more than 5 percent each year, the overall market share for rail will inch down 0.7 percent by 2025.  
   “We continue to see growth for the entire freight economy,” Bob Costello, senior vice president and chief economist at ATA, said in a statement. “But we also see that trucking will maintain its position as the nation’s dominant mode of freight transportation.”