Freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry declined 1 percent in April from March, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ Freight Transportation Services Index released June 8. The April decrease followed a March increase.
For the first four months of this year, freight shipments measured by the index were up 0.6 percent. Freight shipments have increased in 17 of the last 24 months. Shipments rose 14 percent over the last 24 months, starting in May 2009.
The 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.
