BTS: Aug Freight Shipments Down 0.1% on Month, Flat Y-o-Y

SECAUCUS, NJ (DTN) –- The Freight Transportation Services Index, which is based on the amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry, dipped by 0.1% to 138.9 in August, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) at the U.S. Department of Transportation said Wednesday (10/15).

On a yearly basis though, the index remained unchanged.

Last month’s drop comes after the index rose by 0.8% month-on-month in July while sliding by 0.1% compared to the same period last year.

In its latest release, BTS revised the July freight index to 139 from the 138 reading it gave earlier.

The agency noted that August’s decline reflected decreases in air freight, rail carloads, rail intermodal and pipeline activity, and increases in higher trucking and waterborne movements.

The August decrease also came on the back of mixed readings for other indicators.

The Federal Reserve Board Industrial Production Index was up by 0.1% in August, reflecting increases by 0.2% in manufacturing and by 0.9% in mining and a decline by 2% in utilities.

Housing starts were down by 8.5% while personal income gained by 0.1%.

While the Institute for Supply Management Manufacturing index rose by 0.7% in August to 48.7, it still indicated a contraction. Only a reading above 50 indicates an expansion in U.S. manufacturing.

Notwithstanding the drop in freight index, the Passenger Transportation Services Index, reported by the BTS since May, rose by 0.6% month-on-month in August, rising for the first month after two months of decline.

The passenger index also rose by 1.4% from a year earlier. The index measures passenger transportation volumes on local transit, intercity rail and air transportation.

The Combined Freight and Passenger Index rose by 0.2% month-on-month and by 0.5% versus last year.

BTS estimates air freight and air passenger readings one month ahead of reported day.