by Calculated Risk on 5/27/2014 07:43:00 PM

Here is a minor indicator that I follow, from ATA: ATA Truck Tonnage Index Increased 1.5% in April

The American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 1.5% in April, after rising 0.6% the previous month. In April, the index equaled 129.1 (2000=100) versus 127.2 in March. The all-time high was in November 2013 (131.0).

Compared with April 2013, the SA index increased 4.8%, which is the largest year-over-year gain of 2014.
...
“April was the third straight gain in tonnage totaling 4%,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. Tonnage is off 1.4% from the all-time high in November.

“I’m pleased that tonnage has been making solid progress after falling a total of 5.2% in December and January,” he said. “And April’s nice gain was better than the contraction in industrial production and the lackluster retail sales during the same month.”
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

Here is a long term graph that shows ATA's For-Hire Truck Tonnage index.

The dashed line is the current level of the index.

The index has rebounded following the sharp decline during the winter and is now up 4.8% year-over-year.