ATA: Truck tonnage index slips again in April

The seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index equaled 134.8 for the month, down another 2.1 percent from March and 2 percent compared with April 2015, according to the American Trucking Associations.    Domestic truck tonnage dropped 2.1 percent in April 2016 from the previous month, following a 4.4 percent drop in March, according to the American Trucking Association’s advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index.
   The seasonally adjusted index equaled 134.8 for the month, down 2 percent compared with April 2015.
   ATA noted the monthly decreases in April and March came after an all-time high reading for the index of 144 in February. The March decline also represented the largest monthly contraction for the index since September 2012 (-5.3 percent).
   Year-to-date, tonnage grew 3.5 percent compared with the same 2015 period thanks primarily to the strong February numbers. Excluding February, the index was up just 1.8 percent over the first four months of 2015.
  The not seasonally adjusted index, which represents the change in tonnage hauled by fleets prior to any seasonal adjustment, equaled 135.1 in April, down 5 percent from 142.2 the previous month.
   “After having an abnormally large seasonally adjusted gain in February, tonnage fell in April, in addition to the large drop in March,” ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said in a statement. “However, while freight remained soft in April, based on other economic indicators, the outlook for tonnage is a little better than just a couple of months ago.
   “With that said, there is still an inventory correction transpiring throughout the supply chain that will keep a lid on truck freight volumes in the near term,” he added. “As a result, we are still likely to experience lackluster tonnage numbers in the next few months.”