April Truck Tonnage Rises 3.5%
Truck tonnage rose 3.5% in April from a year ago, American Trucking Associations said Tuesday.
The gain followed a 3.1% year-over-year increase in March that was larger than the 2.7% originally reported.
Month-to-month, tonnage slipped 1.1% from March, ATA said in its monthly seasonally adjusted for-hire truck tonnage report. Year-to-date, tonnage is up 3.8%.
March’s sequential increase from February was 0.6%, higher than the 0.2% originally reported, the trucking group said.
The not seasonally adjusted index, which represents actual tonnage, rose to a reading of 116.9 in April, 5.5% below March. ATA uses the year 2000 as a 100-reading baseline.
“While April’s decrease was a little disappointing, the March gain turned out to be stronger than originally thought,” ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said. “The ups and downs so far this year are similar to other economic indicators.
“April’s decrease also matches with an economy that is likely to grow slightly slower in the second quarter than the first,” he said, adding that the industry should not expect the rate of growth seen over the past two years, when tonnage rose by 5.8%.
“I continue to expect tonnage to moderate from the pace over the last two years. Annualized growth in the 3% to 3.9% seems more likely,” Costello said.
ATA calculates the tonnage each month based on reports by its member trucking companies.
