Truck Tonnage Rises 7.6% in June
Truck tonnage rose 7.6% in June from a year ago, the seventh straight year-over-year increase, American Trucking Associations said Tuesday.
But tonnage fell 1.4% in June from May, the second consecutive month-to-month drop, ATA said in its monthly seasonally adjusted for-hire truck tonnage index. It was the first back-to-back decrease since March and April 2009.
The seasonally adjusted index was 108.5 in June, ATA said. The year-to-year gain followed a 7.7% rise in May.
The not seasonally adjusted index — the change in tonnage actually hauled by the fleets before any seasonal adjustment — was 115.9 in June, up 6.5% from May.
ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said that the two consecutive month-to-month drops shows that the economy is slowing. Nonetheless, Costello said that tonnage does not need to grow much, since capacity is tight.
“Due to supply tightness in the market, any tonnage growth feels significantly better for fleets than one might expect,” Costello said.
ATA calculates the tonnage each month based on reports by its member trucking companies.
