Truck Tonnage Rises 4.1% in July
Truck tonnage increased 4.1 % in July from a year ago, American Trucking Associations said Tuesday.
Tonnage was unchanged from June, ATA reported in its seasonally adjusted for-hire truck tonnage report.
The increase was the most year-over-year since February’s 5.5% upturn. Year to date, tonnage is 3.7% higher than the same period last year.
The not seasonally adjusted index, which represents tonnage actually hauled by fleets, came in at a reading of 119.4, down 2.8% from June. ATA uses the year 2000 as a 100-reading baseline.
“July’s reading reflects an economy that has lost some steam, but hasn’t stalled,” ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said in a statement.
“Certainly there has been some better economic news recently, but I continue to believe we will see some deceleration in tonnage during the second half of the year,” he added, noting a strong run of tonnage in the comparative August-to-December period last year.
Costello said he believes a slowdown in factory orders will constrain manufacturing output and impact truck freight volumes, but kept his tonnage outlook for 2012 to the 3% to 3.5% range, as previously reported.
ATA calculates the tonnage each month based on reports by its member trucking companies.
