The amount of truck tonnage hauled by North American fleets decreased 2.3 percent in May.
Accoridng to the American Trucking Associations advance seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index, truck tonnage fell by 2.3 percent in May after decreasing a revised 0.6 percent in April 2011. The latest drop puts the seasonally adjusted index at 112.3 in May, down from the April level of 114.9.
The non-seasonally adjusted index equaled 115.9 in May, which was two percent higher than the previous month. The non-seasonally adjusted index represents the change in tonnage actually hauled by the fleets without taking the season into account.
Compared with May 2010, seasonally adjusted tonnage climbed 2.7 percent, however this was the smallest year-over-year gain since February 2010.
ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said the trend in truck tonnage over the last four months shows that the economy definitely hit a soft patch this spring.
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