ATA: Truck tonnage index sees ‘robust jump’ in May

The seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index equaled 144.1 in May, up from 135.3 in April, though American Trucking Associations’ Chief Economist Bob Costello expects only moderate gains moving forward.    The American Trucking Associations’ (ATA) advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index shows domestic truck tonnage increased 6.5 percent in May, up from a 1.5 percent decline in April.
   The seasonally adjusted index equaled 144.1 for the month, up from 135.3 in April.
   Compared to May 2016, the seasonally adjusted index rose 4.8 percent, which was the largest year-over-year gain since November, the ATA said.
   For the first five months of 2017, the index was up 0.9 percent from the corresponding 2016 period, while for the full year in 2016, tonnage was up 2.5 percent from 2015.
   The not seasonally adjusted index, which represents the change in tonnage actually hauled by the fleets before any seasonal adjustment, equaled 145.3 in May, up 8.5 percent from the previous month.
   “After three straight declines totaling 2.6 percent, truck tonnage snapped back in May,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “One month does not make a trend, but the nice gain last month fits more with the anecdotal reports I’ve been hearing from fleets, at least more so than three straight months of decreases.
   “Despite the robust jump in May, I still expect moderate growth going forward as key sectors of the economy continue to improve slowly,” he added.
   ATA also noted that part of May’s report revises its April decline in the index to a 1.5 percent dip instead of the previously reported 2.5 percent drop.