Freight index down slightly in June, BTS says

The Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) fell 0.3 percent percent in June from May, falling after a single month of growth, the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported Wednesday.

The freight TSI measures the month-to-month changes in freight shipments by transportation mode in tons and ton-miles, which are combined into one index. The level of freight shipments measured by the freight TSI in June was 121.9, or 1.2 percent below the all-time high of 123.4 in November 2014, according to a BTS press release.

June freight shipments rose 2.3 percent compared with freight shipments in June 2014.

The BTS revised the May index to 122.2 from 122.7 in last month’s report. The 0.3 percent decline from May to June was due to declines in truck, water and rail intermodal shipments, the bureau said.

The freight TSI increased 0.2 percent in the first quarter, but fell in 0.6 percent in the second quarter.