OctoberÂ’s tonnage index shows improvement since last year

Trucking tonnage rates show no signs of slowing down nationwide, which could mean good things for the success of trucking companies throughout the country. According to Fleet Owner, The American Trucking Associations (ATA) recently released its figures for last October’s tonnage index, and numbers have gone up since the previous month.

“Over the last two months, tonnage is up nearly 2 percent and is just shy of the recent high in January of this year,” Bob Costello, chief economist for the ATA, said in a statement. “Manufacturing output has been the primary reason why truck freight volumes are increasing more than [gross domestic product].

October’s total freight percentage rose 0.5 percent from the previous September. This is an increase of 5.7 percent from last year’s freight demands.

Since truckers have to haul the needed freight nationwide, when the levels of demand increase, it shows signs that the overall economy could be on the rise as well. Truck drivers who have recently completed their CDL training should keep track of these tonnage indexes, which may give clues to the current job market.

OctoberÂ’s tonnage index shows improvement since last year

Monday, November 28th, 2011