The US Department of Transportation reported Wednesday that its Bureau of Transportation Statistics' (BTS) Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) rose 2.6 percent in June from May after two monthly declines. The index measures month-to-month changes in freight shipments in ton-miles. The 2.6 percent increase in June was the largest month-to-month rise since November 2009.
For the first six months of 2011, freight shipments measured by the index were up 1.3 percent and freight shipments rose 4.1 percent from June 2010. However, the Freight TSI fell 0.2 percent in Q2, the first quarterly decline since Q2 2009.