November Truck Tonnage Rises 6% in Biggest Gain Since June
Truck tonnage rose 6% in November from a year ago, the biggest increase since June, American Trucking Associations said Wednesday.
The increase rounds out two years of consecutive year-over-year growth, and followed a 5.7% increase in October. In June, tonnage rose 6.5% year-over-year.
On a monthly basis, November tonnage was 0.3% higher than October, ATA said in its monthly seasonally adjusted for-hire truck tonnage report.
That followed a revised 0.4% month-to-month gain that had originally been reported as a 0.5% increase.
The seasonally adjusted index for November came in at a reading of 116.6, up from 116.3 in October.
The not seasonally adjusted index, which measures actual tonnage, slipped 2.6% to a 115.3 reading.
“Tonnage levels continue to point to an economy that is growing, not sliding into a recession,” ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said.
“Over the last three months, tonnage is up 2.3% and stands at the highest level since January of this year,” he said in a statement, citing higher manufacturing output and lean retail inventories.
ATA calculates the tonnage each month based on reports by its member trucking companies.
