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AMERICAN TRUCKING ASSOCIATION: “THE ECONOMY IS SLOWING”

25 August 2010 by Cullen Roche 4 Comments

More signs of weakness from this month’s ATA report on trucking (courtesy of the ATA):

The American Trucking Associations’ advance seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 1.5 percent in July, although June’s reduction was revised from 1.4 percent to 1.6 percent.  The latest improvement raised the SA index from 108.3 (2000=100) in June to 110 in July.

The not seasonally adjusted index, which represents the change in tonnage actually hauled by the fleets before any seasonal adjustment, equaled 109.9 in July, down 5 percent from the previous month.

Compared with July 2009, SA tonnage climbed 7.4 percent, which matched June’s increase and was the eighth consecutive year-over-year gain. Year-to-date, tonnage is up 6.7 percent compared with the same period in 2009.

ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said that July’s data didn’t change his outlook for subdued tonnage growth in the months ahead, stating, “The economy is slowing and truck freight tonnage has essentially gone sideways since April 2010.”  Nevertheless, Costello believes that tonnage will post moderate gains, on average, for the second half of the year.  “After accounting for the reduction in supply over the last few years, even small gains in tonnage will have a larger impact on the industry than in past.”

Cullen Roche

Cullen Roche

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Comments
  • in trucking

    Totally unscientific but we’ve been moving alot more food and foodstuffs lately rather than the bulding materials and “metals”… i.e. auto parts, ingots, etc. we(my company) have traditionally trafficked in…

    08/26/2010 at 12:39 AM
  • david

    In trucking,
    I was a driver for thirty years (before early retirement due to back issues) and was a more astute investor during that time than I have been since. It affords one a glimpse into what the economy is up to, generally with some lead time.

    Data > observation (untainted, as much as humanly possible, by bias) > conclusion. Sound premises = valid arguments.

    08/26/2010 at 7:15 AM
  • kk

    nice scary headline, although you forgot to add the thing about moderate gains throughout the rest of the year.

    08/26/2010 at 11:17 PM