BTS reports December freight shipments are up nearly 4 percent from November

The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today that its Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) increased 3.9 percent from
November to December. This marks the largest monthly gain in the index in 17 years.

This tops the 0.1 percent gain from October to November. The index was down 0.2 percent from September to October and up 0.9 percent from August to September.

According to BTS officials, 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.

The BTS said that the November Freight TSI at 113.7 tops October’s 109.5 and is above the previous January high of 113.7 in 2005. And BTS said December shipments were at the highest level in its 22 year history. And after falling to a recent low level of 94.3 in April 2009, freight shipment levels have been up in 22 of the last 32 months, said BTS.

Compared to December 2010, the Freight TSI was up 6.0 percent and up 13.0 percent compared to December 2009.

And for the fourth quarter, the Freight TSI was up 3.7 percent, marking the second straight quarterly increase, with gains in nine of the last ten quarters.