We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
  • ::COVID-19 COVERAGE::
  • INDUSTRY PRESS ROOM
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • MEDIA FILE
  • Create Account
  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Free Newsletters
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC.
    • Podcast
    • Blogs
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Best Practices
      • Dispatches
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Logistics Problem Solving
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Public Sector Logistics
      • Two Sides of the Logistics Coin
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2020
    • Upload Your Video
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC.
    • Podcast
    • Blogs
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Best Practices
      • Dispatches
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Logistics Problem Solving
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Public Sector Logistics
      • Two Sides of the Logistics Coin
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2020
    • Upload Your Video
Home » Truck tonnage index falls in March; biggest monthly drop since September 2012
newsworthy

Truck tonnage index falls in March; biggest monthly drop since September 2012

April 19, 2016
DC Velocity Staff
No Comments

A monthly index of seasonally adjusted for-hire truck tonnage fell 4.5 percent in March, according to data released today by the American Trucking Associations (ATA), retracing more than 60 percent of February's surprising gain, which many thought was unsustainable.

The decline is the largest for the index since September 2012, when it contracted by 5.3 percent.

February's 7.2-percent increase from January's figures put the index at an all-time high. However, Donald Broughton, transport analyst for investment firm Avondale Partners LLC, said at an industry conference earlier this month that February's data was wildly overstated and that the increase was more along the lines of 2 percent.

Broughton said he forecasts traffic and pricing contraction for truckload carriers because retail sales activity remains moribund. Less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers have suffered since the fall of last year due to what is now widely believed to have been a months-long industrial recession.

Compared with March 2015, the seasonally adjusted index was up 2.2 percent, which was down from February's 8.6-percent year-over-year gain, ATA said. Year-to-date, compared with the same period in 2015, tonnage was up 3.9 percent, the trucking trade group said.

"The freight economy continues to be mixed, with housing and consumer spending generally giving support to tonnage, while new fracking activity and factory output (are) being drags," Bob Costello, ATA's chief economist, said in a statement. "In addition, freight volumes are softer than the overall economy because of the current inventory overhang throughout the supply chain."

In his comments, Broughton cast doubt on the notion that tonnage will pick up once the total business inventory-to-sales ratio, which measures the amount of inventory relative to final sales, comes down from multiyear highs. "It's not as if logistics managers suddenly forgot how to manage inventories," he told the Transportation Intermediaries Association's (TIA's) annual meeting last Saturday in San Antonio. "There's demand destruction going on out there."

February's inventory-to-sales ratio hit 1.41, according to data released last week by the Census Bureau. That is the highest level since mid-2009.

Data released today by Avondale and Cass Information Systems Inc., which audits and pays about $26 billion in freight bills, lends credence to the bearish stance. Cass' truckload line-haul index fell in March by 0.6 percent year-over-year, its first negative price change since May 2010. Its intermodal index dropped 3 percent year-over-year in March after declines of 2.2 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively, in January and February.

The truckload and intermodal data cover just the line haul and do not take into account fuel surcharges or other accessorial charges.

Transportation Trucking Rail Truckload Less-than-Truckload
KEYWORDS American Trucking Associations Avondale Partners Cass Information Systems
  • Related Articles

    Truck tonnage index falls in March

    Monthly truck-conditions index fell in March to lowest point since '11, firm says

    Truck tonnage index falls 6% in May

Recent Articles by DC Velocity Staff

ATA cheers court ruling upholding looser hours of service caps

Carry (or at least measure) that weight

December cargo volume up in Houston, Oakland

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Most Popular Articles

  • Cold chain giant Lineage Logistics buys its own rail operator

  • The Home Depot opens automated DC in greater Atlanta

  • For container lines and ports, what a difference a year makes

  • Outlook 2021: What’s in store for logistics supply chain?

  • A guide to Brexit for ecommerce businesses

Now Playing on DCV-TV

Jlt procure rugged devices thumb

What it takes to procure the right rugged devices for your warehouse

DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
Procuring new rugged devices for your warehouse is often a big decision and a significant investment. It needs careful planning and consideration. It involves more than ticking boxes on a spec sheet. It includes testing and getting employee buy in. And it's about finding a partner that can work with you to deploy...

FEATURED WHITE PAPERS

  • Proven Benefits: A Compendium of Slotting Optimization Success Snapshots

  • Bridging Information Gaps in Dock and Yard Operations

  • How Intelligent Sensor Solutions Turn Data Into Action

  • Order picking Solutions: Understanding Your Options

View More

Subscribe to DC Velocity Magazine

GET YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSLETTERS
  • ADVERTISING
  • CUSTOMER CARE
  • CONTACT
  • ABOUT
  • STAFF
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright ©2021. All Rights ReservedDesign, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing