The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 may be the indexes that often grab the headlines, but the Dow Jones Transportation Average (DJTA) is another index that is also covered in financial reporting. A price-weighted index of 20 stocks, the DJTA reflects the stock performances of leading U.S. companies that operate in the transportation industry.

Index
Its name was changed to DJTA in 1970, and it now has a much more varied collection of stocks. In addition to airlines, the index includes stocks from several industries, such as trucking, rental car, shipping, and, of course, railroad stocks. In February 2024, the index expanded in scope to include ride-sharing company Uber (UBER +2.01%), replacing JetBlue Airways (JBLU -0.54%).
The importance of the Dow Jones Transportation Average (DJTA)
Because rises and falls in the Dow Jones Industrial Average can be greatly affected by the performance of an individual ticker, the DJTA provides investors with another data point to assess the health of markets. It's especially useful since the Dow Jones Industrial Average excludes transportation stocks.