The amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry fell 1.2 percent in April from March, declining after five consecutive monthly increases, according to the US Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics' (BTS) Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) released Wednesday.
The 1.2 percent decline in freight transportation was driven by declines in shipments by water, pipeline shipments, and rail intermodal. Waterborne freight reductions in April were partially due to floods and barge accidents that interfered with river operations. Trucking was stable in April on a seasonally adjusted basis. The stability in trucking, the decline in rail intermodal, and the decline in the overall Freight TSI were consistent with a slight decline in manufacturing output, and a larger decline in housing that took place in April, the BTS said in its monthly release.
Freight shipments measured by the index were up 0.2 percent in April compared to the end of 2012 and April 2013 freight shipments were up 1.2 percent from April 2012.