AMERICAN TRUCKING ASSOCIATION: THE ECONOMY IS SLOWING
The quote of the week comes from Bob Costello, Chief Economist of the American Trucking Association who is warning of an economic slowdown:
ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said that the two sequential decreases reflect an economy that is slowing. Furthermore, growth in truck tonnage is likely to moderate in the months ahead as the economy decelerates and year-over-year comparisons become more difficult. Nevertheless, Costello believes that tonnage doesn’t have to grow very quickly at this point since industry capacity has declined so much. “Due to supply tightness in the market, any tonnage growth feels significantly better for fleets than one might expect.”
This came on the back of yesterday’s data release showing the second consecutive month of declines in truck tonnage:
The American Trucking Associations’ advance seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 1.4 percent in June, although May’s reduction was revised from 0.6 percent to just 0.1 percent. May and June marked the first back-to-back contractions since March and April 2009. The latest reduction lowered the SA index from 110.1 (2000=100) in May to 108.5 in June.
Source: ATA
How many times do I have to say this. Expect more stimulus, if not from Congress then the Fed. China will do it too.
Anybody wanna bet?