Consumer Spending Next Year May Help Trucking Industry

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he strength of consumer spending in 2007 will to be a big factor in the trucking industry’s health in 2007, the Associated Press reported.

Several indicators showed a somewhat disappointing “peak season” for freight shipping at the end of this year, including statistics by the Federal Reserve and American Trucking Associations, AP said.

ATA’s figures showed that the amount of merchandise shipped in October — usually the peak of the peak season — fell to its lowest level since February. (Click here for previous coverage.)

The Federal Reserve, which publishes a periodic “Beige Book” detailing national economic activity, said many regions of the country reported disappointing freight demand ahead of the holidays, AP said.

The Transportation Department’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics also reported weaker freight volumes for October in its monthly release on Dec. 6, AP reported.

David Ross, an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus & Co., told AP that congestion in 2004 at the Port of Long Beach prompted frustrated shippers last year to send more of their freight to East Coast ports, which favor trucks.

But with congestion problems solved, shippers this year returned to the more railroad-centric West Coast ports, AP reported.