In The News

Freight index records big drop

The Department of Transportation’s freight transportation services index plunged 10.5 percent in October from a year earlier, the biggest decline in the 20 years of the index.

DOT’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics said the index dropped 1.2 percent from September. The figure is a 1 percent increase from the recent low reached in May, the lowest level since June 1997.

The freight index has fallen in 11 of the past 15 months and is off 5.8 percent in the first 10 months of 2009, DOT said. The index has dropped 14.2 percent since October 2004 and 9.3 percent since October 1999.

TSI is a seasonally adjusted monthly index measuring the output of services provided by the for-hire transportation industries, including railroad, truck and local transit.

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