ATA’s Truck Tonnage Index Declines in February

March 28, 2006 4:00 PM, EST

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merican Trucking Associations said Tuesday that its for-hire truck tonnage index dropped 2.5% in February, the first monthly decline since August.

The decline left the seasonally adjusted index at a reading of 115.1, the lowest since September, ATA said. The index was 0.2% lower than the same month a year earlier.

The non-seasonally adjusted index dropped 4.5% from January to 104.1.

ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said the decline was the largest month-to-month drop in a year. The index dropped 5.4% from January to February 2005.

“Motor carriers have been telling us that volumes have been fair recently and our index clearly reflects that sentiment," Costello said. "We continue to believe that motor carriers should expect modest growth in volumes going forward and that the latest decrease should not alarm the industry.

“The string of consecutive monthly increases was bound to come to an end at some point,” he said.

ATA’s economics department calculates the monthly index based on surveys of its members.