The American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index declined 0.9% in August, following a revised increase of 3.1% during July. However, the index is still up 2.1% year-over-year.
In August, the index equaled 134.2 (2000=100), down from 135.3 in July. The all-time high of 135.8 was reached in January 2015.
Compared with August 2014, the SA index increased 2.1%, which was below the 4% gain in July. Year-to-date through August, compared with the same period last year, tonnage was up 3.3%.
“After such a robust July, it is not too surprising that tonnage took a breather in August,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “The dip after a strong gain goes with the up and down pattern we’ve seen this year.”
Costello said a few factors hurt August’s reading, including soft housing starts and falling factory output. “As I said last month, I remain concerned about the high level of inventories throughout the supply chain,” he said. “This could have a negative impact on truck freight volumes over the next few months.”
The not seasonally adjusted index, which represents the change in tonnage actually hauled by the fleets before any seasonal adjustment, equaled 137.0 in August, which was 0.5% below the previous month (137.6).