DOT's Freight Transportation Index Rises 0.3%
The Department of Transportation’s freight transportation services index rose 0.3% in April from the same month last year, DOT announced June 10.
The freight TSI declined 1.8% from March to a reading of 120.4, following a rise the prior month, DOT’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics said in its monthly report. The March index was revised down to 122.6 from 122.9.
The decline from March was the largest since January 2014 and brings the index to the lowest level since June of last year, according to the report.
Last June’s reading was 2.3% below the all-time high of 123.2 set in November 2014. DOT uses a baseline reading of 100 from the year 2000.
“Large declines in trucking and pipeline, coupled with smaller declines in rail carloads and rail intermodal, resulted in the decline in the overall freight index in April, despite increases in airfreight and waterborne,” DOT said in a statement.
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.
Debra Devine/Transport Topics