The American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index fell 4.3% in June. That's in contrast to a 6.9% gain the month prior.

For the month, the index equaled 138.5, down from 144.7 in May. Compared to June 2016, the seasonally adjusted index increased 1.3%. In May, the index jumped 5.2% on a year-over-year basis and in the first six months of the year, the index is up 1% compared to the same period last year.

“After such a large spike in May, it was not surprising to see the index give back some of those gains in June,” said Bob Costello, ATA chief economist. “However, looking back at the second quarter as a whole, tonnage was up 0.8% over the first quarter and 1.9% over the same quarter last year, so it was a solid three month period.”

The not seasonally adjusted index, which represents the change in tonnage actually hauled by the fleets before any seasonal adjustment, equaled 144.3 in June, which was just 1% below the previous month (145.8).

“June’s slide does not change my belief that we will continue to see moderate, albeit, at times choppy, growth in truck tonnage as the year continues,” said Costello.