by Calculated Risk on 9/28/2015 05:08:00 PM

From the ATA: ATA Truck Tonnage Index Fell 0.9% in August

AAmerican Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index declined 0.9% in August, following a revised increase of 3.1% during July. In August, the index equaled 134.2 (2000=100), down from 135.3 in July. The all-time high of 135.8 was reached in January 2015.

Compared with August 2014, the SA index increased 2.1%, which was below the 4% gain in July. Year-to-date through August, compared with the same period last year, tonnage was up 3.3%.
...
After such a robust July, it is not too surprising that tonnage took a breather in August,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “The dip after a strong gain goes with the up and down pattern we’ve seen this year.”

Costello said a few factors hurt August’s reading, including soft housing starts and falling factory output.

“As I said last month, I remain concerned about the high level of inventories throughout the supply chain. This could have a negative impact on truck freight volumes over the next few months,” he said.
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 is now up only 2.1% year-over-year.