DOT Freight Transportation Index Falls 0.9%

The Department of Transportation’s freight transportation services index fell 0.9% in August from the same month last year, DOT said Thursday.

The freight TSI fell 0.6% to a reading of 109.0 from July, DOT said. The index uses a baseline 100 reading from the year 2000.

August shipments were 4.4% below the all-time high level of 114.0 in December 2011.

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.