The American Trucking Assns.’ (ATA) advanced seasonally adjusted Truck Tonnage Index fell 6.8% to 142.9 (1993=100) in November, the national association for the trucking industry has announced.

November’s decrease followed a revised decrease of 1.1% in October.
Compared to November 2002, the unadjusted index contracted by 1%, which was the first year-over-year decrease since August 2003. The unadjusted index also fell 15.3% from October to November of this year. Still, year-to-date through November, the unadjusted tonnage index is up 2.6% compared to the same time period in 2002.
"The wild swings in truck tonnage continued in November," said ATA’s chief economist Bob Costello, "making for a highly volatile and uneven recovery for the industry. November is typically a weaker month, relative to October. Since 1990, the average percentage change from October to November has been a decrease of 10.9%; however, this year’s reduction was significantly larger.
"Our truck tonnage index will end up higher this year compared to 2002, but tonnage is not growing as strong as we had hoped given other economic indicators," Costello continued. "One reason for this discrepancy is that most government statistics measure dollars, or the value of goods, not weight. Many industries currently witnessing better growth produce goods that are high in value but low in weight, like technology, thus it is not translating into as much truck tonnage."
Trucks hauled 8.9 billion tons of freight in 2002, or 67.9% of 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 the final report issued around the seventh day of every month.
The bellwether report from ATA's Economics and 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 key financial indicators.