DOT Freight Transport Index Rises 4%

The Department of Transportation’s freight transportation services index rose 4% in October from a year ago but took its first month-to-month downturn in five months, DOT said Wednesday.

The freight index dipped 0.2% from September following four increases, DOT’s Bureau of Trade Statistics said in its monthly report.

Despite the slip, the index, at a reading of 109.4, is at its second-highest level since July 2008. DOT uses a baseline reading of 100 from the year 2000 for the freight TSI.

Freight shipments through the first 10 months of 2011 are up 2.3% over last year, DOT said.

Shipments are down 0.5% in the five years from October 2006, but are up 11.6% in the 10 years from October 2001, despite declines in recent years.

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.