December Boost Helps Tonnage Rise 3.5% for Year, ATA Says
December truck tonnage posted the strongest year-over-year gain during 2014, improving 5.2%, powered primarily by increased factory output, American Trucking Associations reported.
The trade group’s advanced seasonally adjusted for-hire index stood at 136.8 last month, matching the record high set in November. ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said the December results were helped by a 0.3% rise in factory output. Until December, the largest year-over-year improvement was 4.5%.
“Overall, 2014 was a good year for truck tonnage with significant gains throughout the year after falling 4.5% in January alone,” Costello said.
The December performance capped a year when truck tonnage rose a total of 3.5%. By year’s end, tonnage was 10.2% above the January 2014 level, when a sharp decline was tied to unusually severe winter weather.
“Freight volumes look good going into 2015,” Costello said. “Expect an acceleration in consumer spending and factory output to offset the weakness in hydraulic fracking this year.”
ATA also reports monthly tonnage on a not seasonally adjusted basis to reflect how much freight fleets actually haul.
On the not-seasonally adjusted basis, ATA’s index was 133.5, or 6.1% higher than November, and 8.5% above December 2013.
