ARLINGTON, Va. – The largest month-to-month decrease in 15 months, the American Trucking Associations‘ advance seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage fell 2.7 percent in August.

Overall the index is up 2.9 percent compared to the same month a year ago, though this was well below July’s 7.4 percent year-over-year gain.

Year-to-date, tonnage is up 6.2 percent compared with the same period in 2009.

ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said data shows that the U.S. freight economy isn’t receding, but growth is still sluggish.
"We fully anticipate sluggish economic growth for the remainder of this year and the latest tonnage numbers are reflecting that slowdown." He said. "While I’d much rather see better tonnage figures, motor carriers can now do better with small increases in demand since so much supply left the industry during the recession."