ATA: Truck tonnage index rebounds in August

The seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index equaled 141.8 for the month, up 5.7 percent from July and 5.9 percent compared with August 2015, following a 2.1 percent decrease the previous month, according to American Trucking Associations.    Domestic truck tonnage jumped 5.7 percent in August 2016 from the previous month, following a revised decrease of 2.1 percent during July, according to the American Trucking Associations’ (ATA) advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index.
   The seasonally adjusted index equaled 141.8 for the month, up 5.9 percent compared with August 2015, the largest year-over-year gain since a similar 5.9 percent bump in May. ATA noted the all-time high index reading was 144 in February.
   Through the first eight months of the year, tonnage has increased 3.5 percent 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 144.7 in August, up 4.8 percent from 138.1 the previous month.
   “Volatility continues to reign in 2016. This month’s tonnage reading highlights this fact and underscores the difficulty in determining any real or clear trend in truck tonnage,” ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said in a statement. “What is clear to me is that normal seasonal patterns are not holding in 2016.”
   Costello noted that over the past three years, the average change in not seasonally adjusted tonnage was just 0.3 during the month of August, whereas tonnage this year surged 4.8 percent for the month.
   “Despite a difficult to read August, I expect the truck freight environment to be softer than normal as well as continued choppiness until the inventory correction is complete,” he said. “With moderate economic growth forecasted, truck freight will improve as progress is made with the inventory overhang.”