ATA: Truck tonnage index falls ‘back to earth’ in March

The seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index equaled 137.6 for the month, down 4.5 percent from an all-time high of 144 in February but up 2.2 percent compared with March 2015, according to the American Trucking Associations.    Domestic truck tonnage dropped 4.5 percent in March 2016, following a 7.2 percent increase in February, according to the American Trucking Association’s advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index.
   The seasonally adjusted index equaled 137.6 for the month, down from an all-time high for the index of 144 in February but up 2.2 percent compared with March 2015. The decrease also represents the largest monthly contraction for the index since September 2012 (-5.3 percent).
   ATA said tonnage grew 8.6 percent year-over-year in February, following a 1.1 percent year-over-year gain in January. Truck tonnage has increased 3.9 percent in the first three months of 2016 compared with the same 2015 period.
   The not seasonally adjusted index, which represents the change in tonnage hauled by fleets prior to any seasonal adjustment, equaled 142.1 in March, up 10.2 percent from 129 the previous month.
   “As expected, tonnage came back to earth in March from the jump in February,” ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said in a statement. “These things tend to correct, and March took back more than half of the surprisingly large gain in February.
   “The freight economy continues to be mixed, with housing and consumer spending generally giving support to tonnage, while new fracking activity and factory output being drags,” he added. “In addition, freight volumes are softer than the overall economy because of the current inventory overhang throughout the supply chain.”