The American Trucking Association (ATA) announced Monday that its advance seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index fell 2.3 percent in May after falling 0.6 percent in April.
Compared with May 2010, SA tonnage was up 2.7 percent, although this was the smallest year-over-year gain since February 2010. In April, the tonnage index was 4.8 percent above a year earlier.
"Truck tonnage over the last four months shows that the economy definitely hit a soft patch this spring," ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said. "With our index falling in three of the last four months totaling 3.7 percent, it is clear why there is some renewed anxiety over the economic recovery."
Costello added that, "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."