The Department of Transportation’s freight transportation services index rose for the third consecutive month in June because of strong growth in mining, utility and manufacturing sectors, according to statistics released Aug. 10. The index rose 0.6% to 122.3, which is up from 121.8 year-over-year.
“The Federal Reserve Board Industrial Production index rose 0.6% in June. Housing starts were 4.8% above the May level and employment grew by 287,000 jobs,” the Bureau of Transportation Statistics wrote in its monthly report. “The second quarter TSI [transportation services index] increase of 2.2% from the first quarter matched trends in the larger economy. Gross Domestic Product growth increased at the moderate annual pace of 1.2% in the second quarter.”
The June seasonally adjusted index is 29.1% higher than the low point of the economic downturn in April 2009. Freight shipments measured in the index were up 0.7% in June from the end of 2015.
DOT uses a baseline reading of 100 from the year 2000. 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.
