The amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry remained the same in July as in June, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics' Freight Transportation Services Index.


BTS, a part of the DOT's Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported that the level of freight shipments in July, measured by the Freight TSI, remained at the second highest level since August 2008, exceeded only by March and equaled by June.

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.

Freight shipments have increased in 18 of the last 27 months but only in eight of the last 15 months. Shipments rose 14.5% over the last 27 months, starting from the low-point in May 2009 but after declining 15.5% in the previous 15 months shipments remain below the January 2008 level.

In July 2011, freight shipments returned to about the same level as August 2008, which was the start of six straight months of decline. For the first seven months of 2011, freight shipments measured by the index were up 1.3%.

Freight shipments in July rose 14.8% from the recent low in April 2009 (94.3). In April 2009, freight shipments were at their lowest level since June 1997 (92.3). The July 2011 level is down 4.4% from the historic freight shipment peak reached in January 2005 (113.3).

Freight shipments are down 2.3% in the five years from July 2006. Shipments are up 10.0% in the 10 years from July 2001 despite recent declines.

Although freight shipments rose 3.8% from July 2010 to July 2011, they remain below the level of July 2008 (109.9) and the all-time high for the month of July (110.9) reached in 2005 (Table 4).

The TSI is a seasonally adjusted index that measures changes from the monthly average of the base year of 2000. It includes historic data from 1990 to the present.

For more information: www.bts.gov