WASHINGTON – After back-to-back declines, the amount of freight carried by the for-hire carriers rose 2.6 percent in June from the month before, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ Freight Transportation Services Index.

BTS reported that freight shipments in June rose to their second highest level since August 2008, exceeded only by those in March.

The 2.6 percent May-to-June increase was the biggest month-to-month rise since November 2009.

The Freight TSI measures the month-to-month changes in freight shipments in ton-miles, which are then combined into one index. The index measures the output of the for-hire freight transportation industry and consists of data from for-hire trucking, rail, inland waterways, pipelines and air freight.

Freight shipments have increased in 18 of the last 26 months rising 1.3 percent in the past six months and a whopping 14.5 percent over the last 26 months.

But after declining 15.5 percent in the previous 15 months, shipments remain below the February 2008 level.