The American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index jumped 6.3% in October to 119.9 from September’s mark of 112.8.
“After slowing at the end of the third quarter, truck freight surged in October,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “Last month’s strength was due, at least in part, to strong import numbers, especially on the West Coast. This is likely a pull ahead of imports as shippers try to take delivery of goods before January 1, 2019 when tariffs on a large list of goods China increase from 10% to 25%.”
September’s change over the previous month was revised up to +0.1% (-0.8% was originally reported in ATA’s press release on October 23).
Compared with October 2017, the SA index increased 9.5%, up from September’s 3.8% year-over-year increase. Year-to-date, compared with the same period last year, tonnage increased 7.3%.
The not seasonally adjusted index, which represents the change in tonnage actually hauled by the fleets before any seasonal adjustment, equaled 124.4 in October, which was 11.8% above the previous month (111.2). In calculating the index, 100 represents 2015.
