ATA: Sept. Truck Tonnage Decreased 2.1%% versus Month Prior
10/23 7:32 AM
ATA: Sept. Truck Tonnage Decreased 2.1% versus Month Prior
OAKHURST, N.J. (DTN) --- American Trucking Associations' advanced seasonally
adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 2.1% to 113.2 in September
after rising 1.7% in August, which was revised down slightly from the prior
release.
"After increasing a total of 2.1% in July and August, tonnage fell by that
amount in September," said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. "Freight has been
very choppy this year, but despite the latest drop, tonnage is up 1.8% since
hitting a low in January. No doubt, the climb up has been slow and difficult as
manufacturing activity remains flat, but the trend is up, not down.
The not seasonally adjusted index, which represents the change in tonnage
actually hauled by the fleets before any seasonal adjustment, equaled 111.6 in
September, 6.4% below August. ATA's For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index is dominated
by contract freight as opposed to spot market freight.
Compared with September 2023, the SA index fell 0.9%, after rising 0.6% in
August from a year earlier.
Trucking services as a barometer of the U.S. economy, representing 72.6% of
tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation, including
manufactured and retail goods. Trucks hauled 11.46 billion tons of freight in
2022. Motor carriers collected $940.8 billion, or 80.7% 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.
(c) Copyright 2024 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.