ATA reports strong November tonnage levels

Truck tonnage levels in November followed October’s lead and posted very strong gains, according to data issued by the American Trucking Associations (ATA).

Seasonally-adjusted (SA) for-hire truck tonnage in November was up 3.5 percent compared to October, which was up 0.5 percent over September at 136.8 (2000=100), marking the highest SA on record.

On an annual basis, the SA is up 4.4 percent compared to November 2013, which is in line with October’s 4.5 percent annual gain, with November right and October representing the two highest annual gains to date in 2014. On a year-to-date basis, the ATA said SA tonnage is up 3.3 percent.

The ATA’s not seasonally-adjusted (NSA) index, which represents the change in tonnage actually hauled by fleets before any seasonal adjustment, was 125.8 in November, which was down 10.5 percent compared to October’s 140.5. The NSA is up 2.7 percent compared to November 2013, when it checked in at 122.4.

As defined by the ATA, the not seasonally-adjusted index is assembled by adding up all the monthly tonnage data reported by the survey respondents (ATA member carriers) for the latest two months. Then a monthly percent change is calculated and then applied to the index number for the first month.

“With strong readings for both retail sales and factory output in November, I’m not surprised that tonnage increased as well,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello in a statement. “However, the strength in tonnage did surprise to the upside. The index has increased in four of the last five months for a total gain of 6.4 percent. Clearly, the economy is doing well with tonnage on such a robust trend-line.”