The Trucker Newspaper - December 15-31, 2015

36 • December 15-31, 2015 Business
b Tonnage from page 27 b
has snapped back from softness this past spring
and early summer and is approaching the record
high.
“I remain concerned about the high
level of inventories throughout the supply
chain. We recently learned that inventories
throughout the supply chain and relative to
sales rose slightly in August, which is not a
good sign. This could have a negative impact
on truck freight volumes over the next
few months.”
During a panel discussion at the federation’s
Management Conference and Exhibition
in October in Philadelphia, Costello
said the trucking industry should see freight
volumes increase toward the latter part of
2015.
“Right now, we’re in a bit of a soft patch
because inventories are higher than one
would expect,” Costello said. “Once that
normalizes, we should see a healthy rebound
in freight volumes.”
Costello said even though business is
generally good across the sector, fleets are
having difficulty adding capacity because
of a dearth of qualified drivers.
“We reported earlier this month that by
the end of the year we expect the driver
shortage to balloon to about 48,000,” he
said. “This shortage is preventing many
fleets from capturing additional business because
they just do not have the drivers. The
lack of qualified drivers remains a tremendous
threat to continued industry growth.”
Even without capacity expanding,
Costello said sales of Class 8 trucks should
remain strong as fleets replace older trucks
with newer ones.
ATA calculates the tonnage index based
on surveys from its membership and has
been doing so since the 1970s. This is a preliminary
figure and subject to change in the
final report issued around the 10th day of
the month. The report includes month-tomonth
and year-over-year results, relevant
economic comparisons and key financial
indicators.
thetrucker.com
In other economic news that impact the
trucking industry:
• Privately-owned housing units authorized
by building permits in September
were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of
1,103,000. This is 5.0 percent (±1.4 percent)
below the revised August rate of 1,161,000,
but is 4.7 percent (±2.0 percent) above the
September 2014 estimate of 1,053,000.
• Single-family authorizations in September
were at a rate of 697,000; this is 0.3
percent (±1.9 percent) below the revised
August figure of 699,000. Authorizations of
units in buildings with five units or more
were at a rate of 369,000 in September.
• Privately-owned housing starts in September
were at a seasonally adjusted annual
rate of 1,206,000. This is 6.5 percent (±16.4
percent) above the revised August estimate
of 1,132,000 and is 17.5 percent (±18.0
percent) above the September 2014 rate of
1,026,000.
• Single-family housing starts in September
were at a rate of 740,000; this is 0.3
percent (±9.6 percent) above the revised
August figure of 738,000. The September
rate for units in buildings with five units or
more was 454,000.
• Privately-owned housing completions
in September were at a seasonally adjusted
annual rate of 1,028,000. This is 7.5 percent
(±13.6 percent) above the revised August
estimate of 956,000 and is 8.4 percent
(±18.7 percent) above the September 2014
rate of 948,000.
• Single-family housing completions in
September were at a rate of 643,000; this is
1.8 percent (±9.9 percent) below the revised
August rate of 655,000. The September rate
for units in buildings with five units or more
was 378,000.
• New orders for manufactured durable
goods in September decreased $2.9 billion
or 1.2 percent to $231.1 billion, the U.S.
Census Bureau said. This decrease, down
two consecutive months, followed a 3.0
percent August decrease. Excluding transportation,
new orders decreased 0.4 percent.
Excluding defense, new orders decreased
2.0 percent. Transportation equipment, also
down two consecutive months, led the decrease,
$2.2 billion or 2.9 percent to $75.5
billion.
• Shipments of manufactured durable
goods in September, up three of the last
four months, increased $0.4 billion, or 0.2
percent, to $242.5 billion. This followed a
0.5 percent August decrease. Transportation
equipment, also up three of the last four
months, drove the increase, $0.5 billion or
0.6 percent to $81.0 billion.
• Unfilled orders for manufactured durable
goods in September, down two consecutive
months, decreased $6.6 billion or 0.6
percent to $1,187.4 billion. This followed
a 0.3 percent August decrease. Transportation
equipment, also down two consecutive
months, led the decrease, $5.5 billion or 0.7
percent to $794.1 billion.
• Inventories of manufactured durable
goods in September, down four of the last five
months, decreased $1.3 billion, or 0.3 percent,
to $399.4 billion. This followed a 0.2 percent
August decrease. Transportation equipment,
down two of the last three months, led the decrease,
$1.0 billion or 0.8 percent to $131.3
billion. 8