Volumes shrink for YRC Worldwide, other trucking companies - Kansas City Business Journal:

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Compared with the prior-year period, April truckl tonnages fell 13.2 percent, the largest drop in 13 the ATA said. “While most key economic indicatorsz are decreasing at aslowed rate, the year-over-year contractions in trucl tonnage accelerated because businesses are right-sizinbg their inventories, which means fewer truck shipments,” ATA Chieft Economist Bob Costello said in the release. “The absoluter dollar value of inventoriedshas fallen, but sales have decreased as much or which means that inventories are still too high for the currenr level of sales. Until this correction is complete, freighyt will be tough for motor carriers.
” His prediction that the botton may not come for a few more months bodess poorly for companies such as Overland Park-based YRC (Nasdaq: which lost $257.4 million in the first quarter and has been layinfg off workers and selling Many trucking companies have closee their doors in a freightg recession that has lasted more than two years. Longbow Researc h analyst Lee Klaskow recently hosted a conferencs callwith Costello, who said trucking will not be a leadingv economic indicator as in the past but may be a laggingv indicator this time, according to a Thursday note.
“If the trucking industry is in fact notan early-cyclee sector this time around, then the market has gottej ahead of itself and trucking stock should be due for a in our view,” Klaskow wrote. Around 2:30 p.m. Thursday, YRC sharea were trading at $2.53, down about 2 percent. A year ago, YRC sharea closed at $16.31. YRC ranks No. 2 on the Kansaz City Business Journal ’s list of area publix companies.