Indicators: Truck tonnage jumped in May

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CCJ‘s Indicators rounds up the latest reports on trucking business indicators on rates, freight, equipment, the economy and more.


Tonnage 2017 06 20 14 53The amount of freight moved by the for-hire trucking industry, as measured by the American Trucking Associations’ monthly Truck Tonnage Index, climbed 6.5 percent in May from April. Tonnage was up 4.8 percent from May 2016, ATA notes.

Year-to-date, however, tonnage is only up nine-tenths of a percent.

“After three straight declines totaling 2.6 percent, truck tonnage snapped back in May,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “One month does not make a trend, but the nice gain last month fits more with the anecdotal reports I’ve been hearing from fleets, at least more so than three straight months of decreases. Despite the robust jump in May, I still expect moderate growth going forward as key sectors of the economy continue to improve slowly,” he said.