According to the American Trucking Associations, its seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 1 percent in March to 137.5 from 138.8 in February, as poor weather impacted the trucking industry that month.
The index all-time high was 142.7 in February 2016.
“Like several other economic indicators, March truck tonnage was likely hurt by some late season winter storms,” ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said. “Despite last month’s dip, seasonally adjusted tonnage rose 1.2 percent during the first quarter overall from the previous quarter, and increased 0.2 percent from the same quarter last year.”
Compared to March 2016, the seasonally adjusted index increased 0.7 percent, with year-to-date index increases up 0.2 percent compared with the same three months in 2016.
“While I’m not expecting a surge in truck tonnage anytime soon, the signs remain mostly positive for freight, including lower inventory levels, better manufacturing activity, solid housing starts and good consumer spending,” Costello said. “As a result, we can expect moderate growth going forward.”
Trucking represents more than 70 percent of tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation, hauling almost 10.5 billion tons of freight in 2015.