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Dayton Business Journal...
Trucking index slips as economy slows
by Joe Cogliano
Monday, June 27, 2011 

The trucking industry slipped in May, reflecting a shaky economic recovery. 

On Monday, the American Trucking Associations’ announced its advance seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index dropped 2.3 percent in May. The figure was a 2.7 percent increase compared with the same month last year, but marked the smallest year-over-year gain since February 2010. 

“Truck tonnage over the last four months shows that the economy definitely hit a soft patch this spring,” said Bob Costello, ATA chief economist, in a statement. “With our index falling in three of the last four months ... it is clear why there is some renewed anxiety over the economic recovery.” 

However, Costello added that he is cautiously optimistic that freight volumes will improve in the second half of the year along with economic activity. 

“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,” he said. 

Trucking serves as a barometer of the U.S. economy, representing 67.2% of tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation, including manufactured and retail goods. Trucks hauled 9 billion tons of freight in 2010. Motor carriers collected $563.4 billion, or 81.2 percent of total revenue earned by all transport modes. 

The Dayton region is a hotbed of trucking activity, sitting at the crossroads of Interstates 70 and 75, and the health of the industry has a significant impact on the Dayton region’s economy. 

Dayton Freight Lines Inc. , one of the largest locally-based trucking companies, employs 300 between its Vandalia headquarters and Huber Heights service center. Company-wide, it has about 2,500 workers. The firm expects sales to grow 10 percent this year to $250 million and says it will hire about 30 new employees. 

Read the rest of the story at Dayton Business Journal




 
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