US truck tonnage turns positive once again in July

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ATA’s advance seasonally adjusted (SA) For- Hire Truck Tonnage Index improved 1.5% in July, although June’s reduction was revised from 1.4% to 1.6%. This latest increase raised the SA index from 108.3 (2000=100) in June to 110 in July.

The non-seasonally adjusted index, which represents the change in tonnage actually hauled by the fleets before any seasonal adjustment, equalled 109.9 in July, down 5% from the previous month.

Compared with July 2009, SA tonnage climbed 7.4%, which matched June’s increase and was the eighth consecutive year-over-year gain. So far this year, tonnage is up 6.7%.

ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said that July’s data didn’t change his outlook for subdued tonnage growth in the months ahead. “The economy is slowing and truck freight tonnage has essentially gone sideways since April 2010,” he said. Despite the slowdown, Costello believes that tonnage will likely see some moderate gains for the second half of the year.

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