For the fifth consecutive month the amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry rose, up 0.3 percent in March from February, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ Freight Service Index released May 8, 2013. There was a growth across most freight modes, but seasonally adjusted rail traffic declined.
The March index was at its second highest level since April 2009, exceeded only by December 2011. The March 2013 index level was 19.9 percent above the April 2009 low during the recession. However the level of freight shipments in March measured by the Freight TSI was 1.3 percent below the all time high level in December 2011.
Source: United States Department of Transportation: Bureau of Transportation Statistics
