Freight Transportation Climbed in August

Freight transportation was on the upswing through the summer, as indicated by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s closely watched Transportation Services Index.

The TSI increased 0.7 percent in August, the fourth consecutive month without a decline after dropping in 9 of the previous 12 months, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported Thursday. The 4.2 percent decline in the first eight months of 2009 was the largest in the last decade, exceeding the 4 percent decline for the first eight months of 2000.

The August increase was mild compared with July’s 1.6 percent jump, but it completes the first four month period without a decline in the index since 2002. June was flat; in May, the index rose 0.5 percent.

“The continued rise of the freight transportation service index is evidence that America is moving towards economic recovery. The impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and other actions taken by this Administration are only beginning to be felt around the nation, but economic data like this should give us hope that our worst days are behind us,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “However, there is still a long road ahead and we will not let this positive sign lull us into complacency. This Administration remains committed to investing in transportation in order to insure a prosperous future.”

The Freight TSI measures the month-to-month changes in freight shipments of the for-hire freight transportation industry and consists of data from for-hire trucking, rail, inland waterways, pipelines and air freight.

The August Freight TSI of 96.2 is a 2.7 percent increase from the recent low of 93.6 reached in April. In April, the index was at its lowest level since June 1997.

The Freight TSI is down 14.8 percent from its historic peak of 112.9 reached in May 2006.

The August Freight TSI of 96.2 is the lowest for August since August 1997 when it was 94.4. The 10.9 percent decline in the Freight TSI from August 2008 to August 2009 was the largest August-to-August decline in the 20 years for which the TSI is calculated.

Contact Thomas L. Gallagher at tgallagher@joc.com.