Life on the Road – Trucking News Blog

Things have been slow.

ATA truck tonnage index down for the third consecutive month
Jeff Berman, Senior Editor,Logistics Management, July 30, 2007

ARLINGTON, Va.—The American Trucking Associations’ (ATA) advanced seasonally-adjusted For-hire Truck Tonnage Index fell 0.1 percent in June.

ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello told Logistics Management that in order for things to turn around, better growth is needed in the areas that “most impact trucking,” such as housing, manufacturing and consumer spending.

Another factor was the prolonged slump occurring in the housing sector, which, the ATA said, is having a negative effect on motor carriers more so than the general economy.

But despite the troubles in the housing market, Costello told LM that housing doesn’t need to improve significantly for trucking to turn around, it just needs to hit bottom and start to recover.”

So, it will get worse before it gets better. Great, and with fuel prices still pretty high, that’s not good news.