US trucking activity weakens in March - ATA

By Robert Gibbons

NEW YORK, April 28 (Reuters) - A closely watched index of freight tonnage moved by the U.S. trucking industry fell in March, the first month-to-month decrease so far this year, according to the American Trucking Associations.

The ATA's advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index fell 4.5 percent, erasing gains in the previous two months, the ATA said in a release late Monday.

"While the industry is desperate for some positive news, it is unfortunate that March's data suggests the industry has not hit bottom just yet," ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said in a news release.

Trucking is seen as a barometer of the U.S. economy and also has a significant impact on diesel consumption rates. Some 69 percent of U.S. freight tonnage is carried by trucks along the nation's highways, according to the ATA.

March tonnage contracted 12.2 percent compared to a year earlier, the second-biggest year-over-year decrease of the current economic downturn, the ATA said.

The largest year-over-year contraction in the current recession was in December 2008, when tonnage dropped 12.5 percent from the year-ago period.

Trucking fleets surveyed in March by the ATA did overall report higher volumes than in February, as the not seasonally adjusted index increased 10.2 percent. But that is well below the 15 to 20 percent range that not seasonally adjusted tonnage usually rises from February to March, the ATA said.

"Many fleets were telling us during March that freight was getting a little better. The problem is that freight should be significantly better in March, which is why the seasonally adjusted index fell," ATA's Costello said.