Freight Index Falls 11.3 Percent

Once again Cass Freight Index fell 11.3 percent in August compared to the same month a year ago, a sharp dive in freight shipments that still provided a ray of improvement in the troubled U.S. shipping economy.

The double-digit decline was actually the smallest year-over-year drop in freight shipping since May and the index in August edged up 2.8 percent from July's shipping activity.

At the same time, the index by freight payment company, Cass Information Systems, declined 3 percent from July to August, suggesting shippers were seeing some relief in the soaring transportation costs driven up this year by rising oil prices.  The 11.3 percent year-over-year decline in August followed drops of 14.9 percent in July and 12.3 percent in June.

Although the month-to-month increase was the strongest for the shipment index in 2008, it did little to counter suggestions that carriers and shippers were girding for a weak fall peak shipping season. At 1.127, the shipment index actually was below the mark the index hit in January, traditionally the slowest shipping month of the year.