Truck Tonnage Index Increased 1.5% in April

The American Trucking Associations’ (ATA) advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 1.5% in April, after rising 0.6% the previous month.

Compared with April 2013, the SA index increased 4.8%, which is the largest year-over-year gain of 2014. Year-to-date, compared with the same period last year, tonnage is up 2.9%.

The not seasonally adjusted index, which represents the change in tonnage actually hauled by the fleets before any seasonal adjustment, equaled 131.5 in April which was 1.6% above the previous month (129.4).

“April was the third straight gain in tonnage totaling 4%,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. Tonnage is off 1.4% from the all-time high in November.

ATA notes that “Trucking serves as a barometer of the U.S. economy, representing 68.5% of tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation, including manufactured and retail goods.”

 

 

Category: General Update, Management