DOT Freight Transport Index Rises in July
The Department of Transportation’s freight transportation services index rose 2.5% in July from a year ago, the fifth straight year-to-year gain, DOT said Thursday.
The freight TSI posted its second consecutive month-to-month increase, rising 0.4% from June, DOT’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics said in its monthly report.
Year to date, the index has declined 1.3%, and at a reading of 98.2, it remains below the level of every other July since 1997, DOT said.
The freight TSI has risen 5% since June 2009 after falling 15.3% in the 10 months before that.
The July reading was 13% below its historic peak of 112.9 set in May 2006, and 5% above the May 2009 level, when it hit an eight-year low.
The TSI, which uses 2000 as its base year, 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.
