The American Trucking Association reported that its seasonally adjusted Truck Tonnage Index increased 5.4 percent in July.

This increase was in addition to a revised 1.9 percent increase in June and was the second consecutive monthly rise in the index. For the first seven months of 2003, the truck tonnage index was 3.7 percent higher compared to the same time period in 2002. Compared to July 2002, the unadjusted index for July 2003 increased by 2.3 percent.
“It’s good to see July truck freight volumes so strong,” said Bob Costello, ATA’s chief economist, “considering that these months of the year can be a ‘mixed bag’ due to manufacturing retooling.”
Many manufacturing plants shut down in the summer for a week or two to retool the assembly lines, which often has a negative impact on truck freight volumes. The manufacturing industry is the largest customer of the trucking industry. “July’s increase is further evidence that the trucking industry is on a recovery path and I expect freight volumes to continue to improve as the economy does,” Costello said.
Trucks hauled 8.9 billion tons of freight in 2002, or 67.9 percent of all tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation. Motor carriers collected $585 billion dollars or 87 percent 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.