American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 2.3% in October after rising 0.8% in September. In October, the index equaled 116.3 (2015=100) versus 119.1 in September. "For-hire truck tonnage saw the largest single monthly decrease in October since the start of the pandemic,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “The decrease fits with the anecdotal reports of a muted fall freight season. It also coincides with a slowing economy. Housing is a weak spot in freight in addition to a slowing in personal consumption of goods. While factory related freight is holding up better than other areas, it is also decelerating.” Compared with October 2021, the SA index increased 2.8%, which was the fourteenth straight year-over-year gain, but the smallest gain since April. In September, the index was up 5.7% from a year earlier. Year-to-date through October, compared with the same period in 2021, tonnage was up 3.9%.

Futures slid as much as 1.2 percent in New York after losing 2 percent Tuesday, the first drop in seven sessions. Inventories rose by 1.78 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute was said to report. A Bloomberg survey showed nationwide stockpiles fell for a fifth week. OPEC output climbed in July as Libya boosted supply, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts, oil companies and ship-tracking data. “Prices are under pressure as the recent gains are seen as unsustainable,” said Eugen Weinberg, head of commodities research at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. “The API is contributing to the overall situation, and should the DOE data confirm the trend, it’s likely to weigh on prices,” he said, referring to the U.S. Department of Energy figures due for release on Wednesday. Click Read More below for additional details.