Trade News > Trade Logistics > Trade and the Economy > DOT Freight Index Rose 0.1 Percent in November

DOT Freight Index Rose 0.1 Percent in November

Joseph Bonney, Senior Editor | Jan 11, 2012 5:14PM GMT

The Journal of Commerce Online - News Story

Increase left DOT index slightly below peak hit in September

The amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry rose 0.1 percent in November from October, the Transportation Department said.

The increase left the DOT’s Transportation Services Index at 109.5, slightly below its recent peak of 109.6 in September but higher than any other months since July 2008. The seasonally adjusted index measures month-to-month changes in ton-miles carried by trucking, rail, inland waterways, pipelines and air freight.

Since bottoming out at 94.3 in April 2009, the index has posted increases in 21 of the last 31 months, rising 16.1 percent during that period.

Although November shipments rose 4.9 percent from a year earlier and 9.4 percent from November 2009, they remain below the index’s record November level of 112.5 in 2005. The index’s record high was 113.3 in January 2005.

For the first 11 months of 2011, freight shipments measured by the index were up 2.4 percent year-over-year.

-- Contact Joseph Bonney at jbonney@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @josephbonney.