ATA Tonnage Index Takes Big Month-To-Month Jump
Truck shipments jumped 11.9% in the month of July – erasing a revised decline of nearly 9% in June -- the American Trucking Associations said in the September issue of its Monthly Truck Tonnage Report.
The jump in the truck tonnage index was the largest rise since August 1995.
The index also posted its largest year-over-year increase – by rising 7.6% from July 2001. Previously, the largest jump had been between November 1998 and 1999.
The unadjusted truck tonnage index was 149.3 and the three-month centered average was 147.6.
The rise is unusual, the report said, because July “is normally a month affected by a high degree of seasonal effects, which usually place a downward bias on the index.”
The report tied the increases in trucking activity to a rise in factory orders and other manufacturing bellwethers during the month.
“As the economy continues to heal, goods demand should rise and factory output should grow as a result,” the report said.
However, shaky consumer confidence, ATA said, could cause manufacturing growth to decelerate.
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