DOT Freight Index Rises to Record High
The Department of Transportation’s freight transportation services index rose 3.8% in May to a record high, DOT reported July 10.
The index improved 0.6% sequentially from April to a reading of 120, eclipsing the previous all-time high of 119.4, set in November, DOT’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported.
BTS, which uses a baseline reading of 100 from the year 2000, also revised its April index up to 119.4 from an originally reported 117.6.
The gain was led by trucking, which grew rapidly for a fourth straight month and involved dry vans, flatbeds and tank trucks. Rail intermodal declined after three months of increases.
The index has improved in four straight months after a decline in January that was largely weather-related, BTS said.
The freight TSI is a seasonally adjusted monthly index measuring the output of services provided by the for-hire transportation industries, including railroad, air, truck, inland waterways, pipeline and local transit.
