DOT Freight Transportation Index Rises to All-Time High
The Department of Transportation’s freight transportation services index rose to an all-time high in September, climbing 4.3% from the same month last year, DOT said Nov. 14.
The freight TSI increased 0.8% from August, the third consecutive monthly rise, to a reading of 115.8, DOT’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics said in its monthly report.
DOT uses a baseline reading of 100 from the year 2000.
“The accelerating growth in each month of the third quarter of 2013 is consistent with gross domestic product growth of 2.8% during those months,” BTS said in its report.
The index remained above its 2012 range for the ninth month in a row. Every month in 2013 has exceeded 2012’s high point of 112.3, reached in December.
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.
