ATA: Truck tonnage index rebounds in January

The seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index grew 2.9 percent compared with the previous month to a reading of 138.8, following a revised 4.3 percent decline in December, according to the American Trucking Associations.    Domestic truck tonnage rebounded in January 2017, growing 2.9 percent compared with the previous month, following a revised 4.3 percent decline in December, according to the American Trucking Associations’ (ATA) advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index.
   The seasonally adjusted index equaled 138.8 for the month, up 2.6 percent compared with January 2016, after slipping 0.2 percent year-over-year in December. ATA noted the all-time high index reading was 144 in February 2016.
   For the full year in 2016, tonnage rose 2.5 percent compared with 2015.
   The not seasonally adjusted index, which represents the change in tonnage hauled by fleets prior to any seasonal adjustment, equaled 131.6 in January, down 1.8 percent from 133.9 the previous month.
   “The freight economy is starting to show some signs of life and January’s truck tonnage numbers are a good step forward,” ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said in a statement. “Hopefully the ups and downs in truck tonnage during 2016 will not be as pronounced in 2017.
   “Looking ahead, the most recent positive sign for truck tonnage is the large drop in the inventory-to-sales ratio during December,” he added. “The decrease put inventories throughout the supply chain, relative to sales, to the lowest level in two years. There is no doubt that the inventory glut was a drag on truck freight volumes last year.”