Truck tonnage rebounded slightly last month

Aug. 28, 2007

The American Trucking Association's (ATA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index rose .3% in July, the first month-to-month increase since last March.

ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello says July’s tonnage reading points to continued softness in the trucking industry, "specifically as it relates to the weight of goods shipped."

However, he notes that other measures of trucking volumes "are not as lackluster. The number of for-hire loads, for example, which ATA publishes in a separate report, increased 0.4% during the first half of 2007 on a year-over-year basis."

The ATA says the 2007 fall freight season will be "modest. Shippers increasingly spread the peak season over more months, the housing market is expected to remain down and economists predict only moderate economic growth in the near term."