The American Trucking Assns.' seasonally adjusted Truck Tonnage Index decreased 9.5% to 140.3 (1993=100) in August, the national association for the trucking industry reported Monday.

August's 9.5% decrease more than erased July's 5% gain.
Compared to August 2002, the unadjusted index fell by 2.1%. The unadjusted index also fell 1.3% from July 2003. Year-to-date through August, the unadjusted tonnage index is up 2.9% compared to the same time period in 2002.
"High volatility in truck tonnage continued in August," said Bob Costello, ATA's chief economist, "but we had expected the number to be low due to manufacturing production falling in August, the blackout on the East Coast and the low level of retail sales.
"Despite the August figure, I still believe that truck tonnage is on a recovery path. Between very lean inventories throughout the supply chain and improvement in new orders for manufactured goods, truck tonnage should continue to increase. That doesn't mean that we still won't have months like August, but the trend line will continue upwards."
Trucks hauled 8.9 billion tons of freight in 2002, or 67.9% of all tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation. Motor carriers collected $585 billion dollars, or 87% of total revenue earned by all transport modes.
ATA calculates the tonnage index based on surveys from its membership and has been doing so since the 1970s. This is a preliminary figure and subject to change in its final report issued around the seventh day of every month. The association releases a full report on the index during the first full week of every month. The bellwether report from ATA's Economics Statistics Group is a key indicator of for-hire trucking activity. The report includes month-to-month and year-over-year results, relevant economic comparisons and other financial indicators.