DOT’s Freight Transportation Index Rises to Record Level
The Department of Transportation’s freight transportation services index rose to an all-time high in October, DOT said Dec. 10.
The freight TSI increased 4.6% to 121.8 from the same time last year, DOT’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics said in its monthly report. DOT uses a baseline reading of 100 from the year 2000.
“The growth in October was led by trucking, rail and waterborne. During the month, several other indicators of related parts of the economy that often impact transportation increased. Employment and retail sales both increased, as did manufacturing output, though total industrial production declined slightly. Inventories increased to reach an historic high,” BTS said in the report.
The index rose 0.3% from September’s revised reading of 121.4, the fourth consecutive monthly increase.
Freight shipments are up 23.9% since the end of the recession in 2009 and have increased 9.2% since 2004.
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.
