ARLINGTON, Va. – The American Trucking Associations’ advance seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 2.9 percent in February after a 3.5 percent jump the previous month.

Compared with February 2010, tonnage climbed 4.2 percent, although this was smaller than January’s 7.6 percent year-over-year increase.

Through the first two months of the year, tonnage is up 5.9 percent compared to last year.

ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said that the winter storms in February probably played a role in the latest reduction and that he wasn’t concerned about the decrease.

"Tonnage is not going to increase every month and in general I’m very pleased with freight volumes early this year," he said.
Anecdotally, the reports are still encouraging. “I’m hearing a significant amount of positive news from fleets and that the largest concern continues to be the price of diesel fuel, not freight levels.”

ATA calculates the tonnage index based on surveys from its membership and has been doing so since the 1970s.