September Truck Tonnage Rises 2.4%
Truck tonnage rose 2.4% in September from the same month last year, the smallest year-over-year gain in almost three years, American Trucking Associations said Tuesday.
Tonnage rose 0.4% from August, following a 0.9% month-to-month drop in August from July, ATA said in its monthly seasonally adjusted for-hire truck tonnage report.
The not seasonally adjusted index, which represents tonnage actually hauled by fleets, fell 9% in September from August, to a reading of 115.3. ATA uses the year 2000 as a 100-reading baseline.
August’s tonnage level had improved 3.2% year-over-year, and September’s year-over-year increase was the smallest since December 2009.
Year to date, tonnage is up 3.6% over last year, and the September reading matched January’s, so the index has been on a flat trend-line over the past nine months, ATA said.
Third-quarter seasonally adjusted tonnage was up 0.4% from the second quarter and 3.4% over the same quarter last year.
“The year-over-year deceleration in tonnage continued during September, although I was encouraged that the seasonally adjusted index edged higher from August,” ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said.
He noted a recent acceleration in housing starts — which is boosting tonnage — is being countered by flattening manufacturing output and elevated inventories throughout the supply chain.
“Expect year-over-year comparisons to continue shrinking through the rest of the year as tonnage grew nicely during the last three months of 2011,” Costello said in a statement, adding that this year’s tonnage level will rise less than 3.5% over last year.
ATA calculates the tonnage each month based on reports by its member trucking companies.
