The American Trucking Assns.’ advanced seasonally adjusted Truck Tonnage Index increased 10.6% to 155.0 (1993=100) in September, the national association for the trucking industry reported Tuesday.

September’s gain erased nearly the entire drop in August, when the index fell a revised 9.6%.
Compared to September 2002, the unadjusted index increased by 4.2%. The unadjusted index increased by 2.0% from August 2003. Year-to-date through September, the unadjusted tonnage index is up 3.0% compared to the same time period in 2002.
"It is encouraging that tonnage bounced back in September after the surprisingly large decrease in August," said Bob Costello, ATA’s chief economist, "but it is very clear that motor carriers are dealing with a large degree of volatility in the amount of freight to haul.
"I continue to believe that the fundamentals are set for the recovery in truck tonnage to remain on course. Extremely lean inventories, growth in orders for manufactured goods and increasing retail sales will keep trucks moving. Additionally, the tightening supply of available trucks will benefit those carriers that have survived the rough past couple of years."
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 the 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.
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