Truck Usage Down in September

ARLINGTON - Oct 18/16 - SNS -- Track usage declined in September, with the American Trucking Associations' or-Hire Truck Tonnage Index dropping 5.8%, after rising 5% the previous month. In September, the index equaled 132.7 (2000=100), down from 140.8 in August. The all-time high was 144 in February.

Compared with September 2015, the SA index fell 0.7%, the first year-over-year decline since October 2015. In August, the year-over-year increase was 5.2%. Year-to-date, compared with the same period in 2015, tonnage was up 3%.

The not seasonally adjusted index, which represents the change in tonnage actually hauled by the fleets before any seasonal adjustment, equaled 136.4 in September, which was 5.1% below the previous month (143.8).

"Volatility this year continued again in September with the large drop after a significant increase in August," said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. "The changes we're seeing in typical seasonal trends are making it difficult to discern any real or clear trend in truck tonnage.

"Adjusting for the larger ups and downs this year, as well as talking with many fleets, I currently see a softer than normal freight environment, which is likely to continue until the inventory correction is complete. Looking ahead, the slow growth economic environment does not suggest that significantly stronger truck tonnage numbers are in the near term either," he said.

Trucking serves as a barometer of the U.S. economy, representing 70.1% of tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation, including manufactured and retail goods. Trucks hauled nearly 10.5 billion tons of freight in 2015. Motor carriers collected $726.4 billion, or 81.2% of total revenue earned by all transport modes.