According to the latest figures from the American Trucking Associations, the seasonally adjusted for-hire Truck Tonnage Index fell 2.2 percent to 115.7
(2000=100) in February. This followed a revised improvement of 5.0 percent in January, which was the largest month-to-month increase in several years. Compared to February 2004, the index was 3.9 percent higher. Year-to-date, through February, compared to the same period in 2004, the index was up 6.0 percent.
“February’s decrease, while quite large in historical terms, needs to be tempered with January’s extremely strong gain,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “Often, after we see a big change during one month, it is moderated the next month, which I believe happened this January and February. And, while one month does not make a trend, we are expecting the rate of growth in truck tonnage to decelerate compared to 2004. Nevertheless, we still expect tonnage to grow solidly in 2005. February may be the beginning of this deceleration trend, he said.
Trucks hauled 9.1 billion tons of freight in 2003, or 68.9 percent of tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation. Motor carriers collected $610 billion dollars, or 86.9 percent of total revenue earned by all transport modes.


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