LITTLE ROCK — Truck tonnage falls 0.6% from April
The American Trucking Associations reported Friday that the For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index fell 0.6 percent in May, the first month-to-month drop since February. However, May tonnage was up 7.2 percent compared with the same period a year ago, the sixthstraight monthly year-overyear gain for the index.
The Arlington, Va.-based trade group set 100 as the base volume and 2000 as the base year. The index measures the weight of freight hauled by trucks.
The associations’ chief economist, Bob Costello, said in a news release that truck freight tonnage is going to have ups and downs, but the trend continues in the right direction.
“There is no way that freight can increase every month, and we should expect periodic decreases,” he said. “This doesn’t take away from the fact that freight volumes are quite good, especially considering the reduction in truck supply over the last couple of years.”
The trucking industry is a barometer of the U.S.
economy because trucks haul 68 percent of the freight transported in the U.S.
Procter & Gamble
aims to boost sales
Procter & Gamble Co., the world’s largest advertiser, aims to reach 1 billion more consumers and increase average spending on its products to $14 a year per person from $12, Chief Executive Officer Bob Mc-Donald said Friday.
Procter & Gamble seeks to reach more people while lowering its carbon footprint, McDonald said during an advertising conference in Cannes.
Procter & Gamble, which expects more than half its future growth to come from fast-growing developing markets, has lowered its carbon footprint by 50 percent in the past decade, McDonald said.
Still, the company’s 145 plants worldwide add up to about one coal-fueled power plant, said McDonald, who has worked at Procter & Gamble for 30 years. The company aims to further cut its footprint by 50 percent.
Arkansas index up
as 12 stocks rise
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, rose 1.55 to 174.63 on Friday.
Twelve stocks advanced while five declined.
USA Truck gained 9.9 percent on eight times its normal volume while Tyson Foods fell 3.2 percent on average trading.
Wal-Mart was off 2.5 percent with 45 million shares traded, three times its average volume.
For the week, only two stocks gained ground.
Dillard’s dropped 11.2 percent for the week and USA Truck was up 8.9 percent for the same period.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business, Pages 29 on 06/26/2010