Truck tonnage index remained flat in February

Truck tonnage index remained flat in February The American Trucking Associations said its seasonally adjusted for-hire truck tonnage index remained flat in February, after rising 2.4 percent in January.
   The seasonally adjusted tonnage index remained at 117.2 (2000=100) in February, its highest level in more than two years. Tonnage increased 3.5 percent compared to February 2007, and marked the fourth consecutive year-over-year increase in the index.
   “The fact that truck tonnage did not lose any of January’s robust 2.4 percent gain is quite positive,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello.
   He continues to forecast a mild recession for the overall economy during the first half of 2008, but noted truck tonnage typically leads general economic activity. Truck tonnage rebounded in 2001, for example, just as the aggregate economy was slipping into a recession.
   “Perhaps we are seeing a repeat of the last recovery,” Costello said. “But it is still too early to make that call, especially with energy prices at historic levels. There are just too many downside risks at the moment to say definitively that trucking is leading an economic recovery.”
   ATA said trucking serves as a barometer of the U.S. economy because it represents nearly 70 percent of tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation, including manufactured and retail goods.
   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 10th day of the month.