Truck Tonnage Index Seesaws Downward in June

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index dropped by 1.5% in June, following a nearly 3% gain in May.

The index equaled 137.2, which was down from 139.3 in May and also down from the all-time high reading of 144 in February. The freight environment has been up and down in the past few months and ATA expects it to remain choppy.

“The seesaw pattern continued again in June, with tonnage falling after a good rise in May,” said Bob Costello, ATA chief economist. “On a month-to-month basis, tonnage has been down in three of the last four months, totaling 4.7% since February.”

Compared to June 2015, the seasonally adjusted index was up 2.1% and year-to-date was up 3.7% compared to the same period in 2015. When not seasonally adjusted, representing the change in tonnage actually hauled by fleets before seasonal adjustment, the index equaled 142.2 in June, which was 2.2% above May.

“The good news for trucking is we are the most diverse mode of all freight transportation sectors between industrial and consumer freight,” said Costello. “We are currently benefiting from the consumer side while being hurt on the industrial side. And of course we still have the inventory glut that is weighing down tonnage.”