American Trucking Associations (ATA) Tonnage Index decreased 6.3 per cent in October after gaining 5.7 per cent in September, reports the American Journal of Transportation.
'While there are indications that the economy is losing momentum, I believe October's tonnage softness was more of a seasonal issue during a pandemic than anything else,' said ATA chief economist Bob Costello.
'Typical seasonality is off this year, and it was a reason why October was down so much. Not seasonally adjusted tonnage was down a fraction as much as normal over the last five years during September, leading to a big seasonally adjusted gain,' he said.
'However, that means October's not seasonally adjusted tonnage grew less than half as much as it typically does, leading to a big drop in the seasonally adjusted figure. There are plenty of carriers still saying that tonnage, retail tonnage in particular, is good,' said Mr Costello.
Compared to October 2019, the seasonally adjusted (SA) index decreased 8.7 per cent, a decline for the seventh straight year. Tonnage was down 3.9 per cent.
Trucks hauled 11.84 billion tons of freight in 2019, and Motor carriers collected US$791.7 billion. Trucking makeups 72.5 per cent of tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation, including manufactured and retail goods in the US.
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'While there are indications that the economy is losing momentum, I believe October's tonnage softness was more of a seasonal issue during a pandemic than anything else,' said ATA chief economist Bob Costello.
'Typical seasonality is off this year, and it was a reason why October was down so much. Not seasonally adjusted tonnage was down a fraction as much as normal over the last five years during September, leading to a big seasonally adjusted gain,' he said.
'However, that means October's not seasonally adjusted tonnage grew less than half as much as it typically does, leading to a big drop in the seasonally adjusted figure. There are plenty of carriers still saying that tonnage, retail tonnage in particular, is good,' said Mr Costello.
Compared to October 2019, the seasonally adjusted (SA) index decreased 8.7 per cent, a decline for the seventh straight year. Tonnage was down 3.9 per cent.
Trucks hauled 11.84 billion tons of freight in 2019, and Motor carriers collected US$791.7 billion. Trucking makeups 72.5 per cent of tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation, including manufactured and retail goods in the US.
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