Following a 4.4 percent drop during the month of June, the for-hire truck tonnage index increased by 0.1 percent in July, equaling 138.5, according to recently released American Trucking Associations’ (ATA) July index data.
Compared to the same point the previous year, the index in up a total of 2.3 percent. From June, the index rose 1.2 percent on a year-over-year basis.
On a year-to-date basis, the index is up 1.2 percent compared to the same first seven months of 2016.
While the seasonally adjusted index rose, the non-seasonally adjusted index, which represents the change in tonnage hauled by fleets before any season adjustment, decreased by 2.2 percent compared to June.
“July’s small increase in truck tonnage fits with other mixed economic indicators,” ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said. “Retail sales surprised to the upside, but manufacturing production and housing starts were down, so combined those likely caused a rather flat month in July for truck tonnage. With better economic growth in the second half of 2017, expect truck tonnage to continue increasing at a moderate pace on a year-over-year basis.”
Currently, trucking represents 70.6 percent of tonnage carried by all modes on domestic freight transportation, which includes manufactured and retail goods. Throughout 2016, trucks hauled approximately 10.5 billion tons of freight.
In total, motor carriers collected approximately $676.2 billion, representing 79.8 percent of the total revenue earned by all transport modes.