ATA Reports 5% Increase in Truck Tonnage
Truck tonnage rose 5% last month, providing an indication of continued economic expansion, American Trucking Associations reported.
The trade group’s advanced seasonally adjusted index stood at 133.5, reflecting a 1.1% improvement over the February total. The gain in March on a year-to-year basis stood exactly midway between the 6.7% rise in January and the 3.3% gain in February.
ATA’s tonnage index remains near the all-time high of 135.8 that was reached in January. Tonnage in February was revised to a 2.8% drop from January.
“While tonnage did not fully recoup the loss from February, it increased nicely in March,” ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said. “I’d say that tonnage was one of the better indicators for the month, which is a positive sign for the broader economy.”
The ATA report followed some modestly positive economic news from the Census Bureau, including retail sales that rose 0.9% sequentially in March but were 1.3% higher than the same month of last year. Also last week, the Federal Reserve said factory output was 0.1% higher, the first rise in five months.
“The next couple of months will be telling for truck freight volumes as we enter the spring freight season,” Costello said.
From a broader perspective, tonnage has risen in five of the past six months on a sequential basis, finishing the first quarter with a 5% year-over-year increase that matched the pace in the fourth quarter.
The trade group also released tonnage that was not seasonally adjusted. Freight actually hauled was 6.6% higher last month than in 2014 and 17% above February.
