August Tonnage Rose 2.6%, ATA Says
Truck tonnage rose 2.6% in August from a year earlier, its 10th straight year-to-year increase, but fell 1.6% from July, the biggest month-to-month decline since March, American Trucking Associations said late Wednesday.
July tonnage was revised down to a 0.9% decline from an initially reported 0.3% drop, ATA said in its monthly seasonally adjusted for-hire truck tonnage index.
Year-to-date, the index was up 3.4% compared with the same period in 2007. In the first eight months of 2006 and 2007, tonnage contracted 1.7% and 1.5%, respectively, ATA said.
ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said that the tonnage index’s year-over-year growth in August was due to soft tonnage levels in 2007.
“We are forecasting a mild recession later this year and early next year,” Costello said Wednesday. “Make no mistake about it, freight volumes are weakening.”
ATA calculates the tonnage each month based on reports by its member trucking companies.
