DOT freight index dips in August

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Updated Oct 15, 2010

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The Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) slipped in August, falling 0.6 percent from its July level, according to preliminary numbers released by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics on Thursday, Oct. 14. The Freight TSI has risen 4.4 percent over the last 15 months, starting in June 2009, after declining 15.3 percent in the previous 10 months, beginning in August 2008. Although the index has increased in 12 of the last 15 months, it is down 1.9 percent throught the first eight months of 2010. The August Freight TSI is down 13.5 percent from its historic peak of 112.9 reached in May 2006.

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.