The American Trucking Association (ATA) has reported sizeable gains in the tonnage hauled by fleets prior to seasonal adjustment for the month of August.
In total, the seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index leapt 7.1 percent over the course of the month. Impressing the scale of that jump further is the fact that the index inched up a mere 0.5 percent in July. Given that trucking represents 70.6 percent of tonnage carried through the United States via domestic freight transportation–with a revenue intake of $676.2 billion in 2016–the figures are also a good indication for the economy.
“Tonnage was stronger than most other economic indicators in August and more than I would have expected,” Bob Costello, ATA chief economist, said. “However, prep work for the hurricanes and better port volumes likely gave tonnage an added boost during the month. I suspect that short-term service disruptions from when the storms made landfall, as well as the normal ebb and flow of freight, could make September weaker and tonnage will smooth out to more moderate gains, on average.”
The figures leave the index 8.2 percent higher than the previous year, with the index figures for August settling in at 149.