Truck Tonnage Up 2 Percent From April 2015

Seasonally-adjusted for-hire truck tonnage increased 2 percent in April compared to the same month last year, according to a press release from American Trucking Associations.

The associations’ For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index was 134.8 in April, up from 132.2 the same month last year.

The index, which is pegged to the year 2000, measures the gross tonnage of freight transported by motor carriers in a month. Tonnage was 100 in 2000.

“While freight remained soft in April, based on other economic indicators, the outlook for tonnage is a little better than just a couple of months ago,” said Bob Costello, the associations’ chief economist. “With that said, there is still an inventory correction transpiring throughout the supply chain that will keep a lid on truck freight volumes in the near term. As a result, we are still likely to experience lackluster tonnage numbers in the next few months.”

So far this year, tonnage has increased 3.5 percent, compared to the same period in 2015.

The not seasonally adjusted index, which represents the change in tonnage actually hauled by carriers before any seasonal adjustment, was 135.1.

In 2014, trucks hauled nearly 10 billion tons of freight.

Since the 1970s, American Trucking Associations, the largest national trade association in the trucking industry, has calculated the tonnage index based on surveys from its membership.