Truck Tonnage Falls 1.8% in October
Truck tonnage fell 1.8% in October from the same month last year, and took an even bigger drop from September, American Trucking Associations said late Monday.
The group’s for-hire seasonally adjusted truck tonnage index plunged 3% from September and has fallen by 6.3% over the past four months.
“October should be the busiest month of the year, but instead [it] was a fizzle,” ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said in a statement.
The index was particularly weak in October due to U.S. economic recession, Costello said, adding that the “cumulative drop in truck tonnage over the last four months suggests that the economy is likely to contract substantially in the fourth quarter, [by] at least 3%.”
While October is typically a busy month for motor carriers as retailers begin to take delivery of holiday goods, the decline “suggests that retailers are very pessimistic for the holiday sales season,” he added.
ATA calculates the tonnage each month based on reports by its member trucking companies.
