Trucking index drops; USA Truck share price falls

The slow and often up-and-down nature of economic recovery continues to be reflected in the American Trucking Associations’ truck tonnage index, which dropped 1.3% in July.

The For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index — a key measure of health within the national trucking sector — drop in July follows a June in which the index was up a revised 2.6%.

Compared with July 2010, the index is up 3.9%. The index was up 6.5% in June compared to June 2010.

“We had heard that freight weakened from a robust June, and that was true,” ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said in a statement.

Costello said tonnage has fallen in three of the last four months on a sequential basis.

“Despite a solid June, our truck tonnage index fits with an economy that is growing very slowly,” Costello noted. “The good news is that tonnage continues to increase on a year-over-year basis, but it is likely that the rate of growth will moderate in the second half of the year.”

In previous reports, Costello said some trucking companies were faced with driver shortages as they responded to increases in freight demand.

According to the ATA, trucking serves as a barometer of the U.S. economy, representing 67% of tonnage carried in 2010 by all modes of domestic freight transportation, including manufactured and retail goods. Trucks hauled more than 8.8 billion tons of freight in 2009. Motor carriers collected $544.4 billion, or 81% of total revenue earned by all transport modes in 2009.

TRUCK TROUBLE
On Monday, USA Truck reported that a software issue and a “deterioration in general truckload market conditions” is likely to cause the company to report an income loss during the third quarter. However, the company said business was beginning to improve in early August.

The news, which was reported after the markets closed, hit USA Truck shares (NASDAQ: USAK) hard on Tuesday. The price fell $3.25, ore almost 30%, to close at $7.70. Trading during the day fell to $7.66 a share, which reached a new 52-week low.

For the first half of 2011, the company has an income loss of $2.118 million, up compared to a $2.096 million loss during the 2010 period. The company lost $2.7 million in the first quarter. Total revenue for the first half of 2011 is $263.069 million, up 19.95% compared to the 2010 period.

It’s been a tough few years for USA Truck.

The long-haul carrier posted a net income loss of $7.177 million in 2009 and a net income loss of $3.308 million in 2010. However, total revenue in 2010 was $460.161 million, up 20.3% compared to 2009. The company posted 2009 revenue of $382.36 million, down 28.6% compared to the $535.62 million in 2008.

The Dow Jones Transportation Average, another measure of health in the industry, closed Tuesday at 4,365.86 points, down 14.5% from the Jan. 3, 2011, open.