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October 27, 2006 8:00 AM, EDT

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merican Trucking Associations said Thursday its preliminary September for-hire truck tonnage index rose 1.7%, following a revised 1.9% drop in August, its largest monthly increase since a 2% rise in April.

The gain put the seasonally adjusted index at 133.1 or 1.7% below the same month last year. The not seasonally adjusted index fell 3.6% August to 112.5.

“Even though truck tonnage improved in September, it’s easy to see that the pattern of starts and stops, which began in April, continued last month,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello.

“It’s no surprise that tonnage was off from September 2005,” he added, “as the jump in hurricane-related freight last year is making year-over-year comparisons very difficult.”

ATA’s economics department calculates the monthly index based on surveys of its members.

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