ATA: Truck tonnage index up 5.4% in July

ATA: Truck tonnage index up 5.4% in July    The American Trucking Associations Inc., an organization of trucking companies, said Friday its seasonally adjusted truck tonnage index increased 5.4 percent to 155.6 in July, compared to July a year ago. The unadjusted index for July rose 2.3 percent.
   July's freight volumes are usually impacted by many plants closing for a week or two to retool their assembly lines, ATA said.
   The American Trucking Associations group calculates the tonnage index based on surveys from its membership.
   Trucks hauled 8.9 billion tons of freight in 2002, or 67.9 percent of all tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation. Motor carriers took in $585 billion, or 87 percent of total revenue earned by all modes of transportation.