May Truck Tonnage Rises 4.1%
Truck tonnage rose 4.1 % in May from a year ago, the biggest year-over-year gain since February, American Trucking Associations said Tuesday.
Sequentially, tonnage slipped 0.7% from April, following a 1.1% decline from March, ATA said in its monthly seasonally adjusted for-hire truck tonnage report.
The not seasonally adjusted index, which represents the change in tonnage actually hauled by fleets before seasonal adjustments, was 124.5 in May, 6.5% above April.
Year-to-date, tonnage is 3.8% over the same period last year, said ATA, which uses the year 2000 as a 100-reading baseline.
“Two straight months of [monthly] contractions is disappointing,” ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said in a statement. “The drops in tonnage are reflective of the broader economy, which has slowed.”
“The good news is that the decrease in fuel prices will help support retail sales going forward, which is a big part of truck tonnage,” he said, adding that he was concerned about businesses sitting on cash instead of hiring more workers or spending it on capital equipment, both of which would give the economy and trucking a boost.
“Annualized tonnage growth should be in the 3% to 3.9% range this year, Costello said, reiterating a previous projection.
ATA calculates the tonnage each month based on reports by its member trucking companies.
