Truck Tonnage Index Slips 2.3% in May

ARLINGTON, VA -- The American Trucking Associations' advance seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 2.3% in May after decreasing a revised 0.6% in April 2011. April's drop was slightly less than the 0.7% ATA reported on May 25, 2011. The latest drop put the SA index at 112.3 (2000=100) in May, down from the April level of 114.9.

"Truck tonnage over the last four months shows that the economy definitely hit a soft patch this spring," ATA Chief EconomistBob Costello said.

Costello is cautiously optimistic that freight volumes will improve in the second half of the year along with economic activity.

"With oil prices falling and some of the Japan-related auto supply problems ending, I believe this was a soft patch and not a slide back into recession, and we should see better, but not great, economic activity in the months ahead," he said.

--PRNewswire