ARLINGTON, VA – The September for-hire trucking market gave back some of the tonnage gains made in the previous month, according to American Trucking Associations’ (ATA) Advanced Seasonally Adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index.

Tonnage slipped 0.9% in September when compared with August, however it was still up 7.4% year over year. The ATA says year-to-date, compared with the same nine months in 2016, tonnage is up 2.4%.

ATA chief economist Bob Costellos said the dip in tonnage from month-to-month was due, in part, to weather related issues like Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

“Going forward, rebuilding from those hurricanes and other natural disasters like the wildfires in California will add to freight demand,” he said. “September’s small setback doesn’t worry me. Freight has been improving and I would have thought tonnage last month would have been softer than it was.”

The ATA calculates its tonnage index based on surveys from its membership. The index is adjusted to account for changes in seasons.

August’s seasonally-adjusted rate showed a gain of 4.7% year-over-year, a re-adjustment from a previously reported gain of 7.1%.