U.S. freight tonnage gain signals rebound?

WASHINGTON — U.S. truck tonnage last month surged 5.3 percent — the largest year-to-year increase since 2005.

According to the American Trucking Associations’ seasonally adjusted for-hire truck tonnage index, the latest gain was up 2.4 percent from December. It also marked three straight month-to-month gains totaling 5.7 percent, ATA said.

ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said January’s strength is a good sign. But he stopped short of saying that truck tonnage is on the road to recovery.

“The economy is either in a mild recession or on the brink of one, and we are hearing anecdotal reports that freight volumes slowed in February,” he said. “I anticipate that truck tonnage will recover before the general economy, but I am withholding judgment on whether truck tonnage is in a recovery mode until I analyze another month or two of data.”

Truck tonnage, which often leads both recessions and recoveries, has rebounded, in some cases, before the overall economy actually started a recession, according to Costello.

Trucking serves as a barometer of the U.S. economy because it represents nearly 70 percent of tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation, including manufactured and retail goods.