Freight shipments fall in June from May

The amount of freight carried by the commercial transportation industry fell 0.1 percent in June from May, the U.S. Transportation Department said Wednesday. The department's Bureau of Transportation Statistics' Freight Transportation Services Index said the June 2012 index level of 109.5 was 16.1 percent above the April 2009 low during the recession. BTS said the level of freight shipments in June was 3.9 percent below the all-time high of 114.0 recorded in December 2011. The Freight Transportation Services Index measures the month-to-month changes in freight shipments by mode of transportation in ton-miles, which are then combined into one index. The index measures output of the for-hire freight transportation industry and is composed of data from for-hire trucking, rail, inland waterways, pipelines and air freight. While rail and truck freight grew in June, shipments using other modes, particularly waterborne freight, were down, BTS said.