Freight index nearly flat in June

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After a one-month decline, the Freight Transportation Services Index edged up slightly in June, rising 0.2 percent over its May level, according to preliminary numbers released by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics on Aug. 11. The Freight TSI is up 4.7 percent over the last 13 months after declining 15.3 percent in the previous 10 months. The index also has risen in 10 of the last 13 months.

The June Freight TSI of 97.9 is 4.1 percent higher than June 2009, but it remains below the level of every other June since 1997. Although freight activity has risen in most months over the past year, the index is down 1.6 percent for the first six months of 2010 primarily because of as a result 3.1 percent decrease in March.

The seasonally adjusted Freight TSI measures the month-to-month changes in freight shipments in ton-miles, which are then combined into one index. The index measures the output of the for-hire freight transportation industry and consists of data from for-hire trucking, rail, inland waterways, pipelines and air freight. The base year for the index is 2000.