Truck Tonnage Index fell 2.1% in April, ATA reports
American Trucking Assns.’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 2.1% in April, following a 4.4% drop during March. In April, the index equaled 134.8 (2000=100), down from 137.6 in March. The all-time high was 144 in February.
Compared with April 2015, the SA index was up 2%, compared to the 2.2% year-over-year gain in March. Year-to-date, compared with the same period in 2015, tonnage was up 3.5% on February’s strength. Excluding February, the index was up just 1.8% over the same months in 2015.
The not seasonally adjusted index, which represents the change in tonnage actually hauled by the fleets before any seasonal adjustment, equaled 135.1 in April, 5% below the previous month (142.2).
“With that said, there is still an inventory correction transpiring throughout the supply chain that will keep a lid on truck freight volumes in the near term,” he added. “As a result, we are still likely to experience lackluster tonnage numbers in the next few months.”
Trucking serves as a barometer of the U.S. economy, representing 68.8% of tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation, including manufactured and retail goods. Trucks hauled just under 10 billion tons of freight in 2014. Motor carriers collected $700.4 billion, or 80.3% of total revenue earned by all transport modes.
ATA calculates the tonnage index based on surveys from its membership and has been doing so since the 1970s.