October traffic gains: Truck vs. rail

The American Trucking Associations reported Monday that truck tonnage increased 6% in October compared with October 2009. ATA said it was the 11th straight year-over-year increase.

The Association of American Railroads, which measures railroad traffic not in tonnage but in carloads and container/trailer intermodal loads, reported last week that rail carload traffic for October was up 8.7% compared with October 2009; intermodal loads increased 14.0%.

The trucking group, which maintains a monthly seasonally adjusted for-hire truck tonnage index, said the October increase brought the index to 112.9. The index is based on the year 2000 as 100.

ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said that trucking gains “fit with reports out of both the manufacturing and retail sectors and show there is a little bit of life in this economic recovery.”