DOT Freight Transport Index Drops 0.4% in March
The Department of Transportation’s freight transportation services index fell 0.4% in March from the same month last year, DOT said Wednesday.
The March freight index level of 109.4 was down 1.9% from February — the biggest monthly decline since August 2006 — but a 0.5% increase in the index since December marked the second consecutive year in which it has risen in the first three months of the year, DOT said.
Despite declines from recent March levels, the freight index has increased 6.1% in the past five years and 10.7% in the past 10 years, DOT said.
The 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.
