ATA’s Truck Tonnage Index recovers “nicely” in October

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 1.9% in October 2015 following a decrease of 0.7% during September.

Nov. 30, 2015

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American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 1.9% in October 2015 following a decrease of 0.7% during September.

The September figure was revised down from the October 20 total. In October, the index equaled 135.7 (2000=100), up from 133.1 in September, and just below the all-time high of 135.8 reached in January 2015.

Compared with October 2014, the SA index advanced 2%, which was above the year-over-year increase of 1.6% in September. However, October’s year-over-year gain was well below the year-to-date figure through October, compared with the same period in 2014 (3%).

The not seasonally adjusted index, which represents the change in tonnage actually hauled by the fleets before any seasonal adjustment, equaled 139.8 in October, which was 2.1% above the previous month (136.9).

“It was good to see tonnage increase nicely in October after contracting a total of 1.6% in August and September,” said Bob Costello, ATA chief economist. “However, tonnage has been overall pretty flat this year, as October’s reading is just shy of January’s level.

“Like I’ve said over the last couple of months, I remain concerned about the high level of inventories throughout the supply chain,” he said. “We recently learned that inventories throughout the supply chain and relative to sales rose in September, which is not a good sign. This will have a negative impact on truck freight volumes over the next few months.”

Watch this video to hear Costello expand on the tonnage report.