Truck Tonnage Up 5.7 Percent in October

Truck tonnage data for the month of October, released this morning by the American Trucking Association (ATA), has come in higher than expected.

Seasonally-adjusted (SA) truck tonnage was up 5.7 percent year-over-year (YoY) in October. Without the seasonal adjustment, truck tonnage increased 4.8 percent YoY in October.

The ATA’s truck tonnage index includes data from both TL and LTL carriers.

October’s reading, reported the ATA, was 4.4 percent below the index’s all-time high back in January 2005.

“Tonnage readings continue to show that economy is growing and not sliding back into recession,” ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said. “Over the last two months, tonnage is up nearly 2 percent and is just shy of the recent high in January of this year.”

Costello expects freight and the economy to increase at a slower pace next year, but that truck tonnage can outpace GDP growth.

“Manufacturing output has been the primary reason why truck freight volumes are increasing more than GDP. The industrial sector should slow next year, but still grow more than GDP, which means truck tonnage can increase faster than GDP too,” he said.