BTS reports decline in April Freight Transportation Service Index

The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) recently reported that its Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) dropped 1.8 percent from March to April, following a 1.7 percent increase from February to March.

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.

At 120.4, the Freight TSI was 27.2 percent above April 2009’s low of 94.6, which was during the depths of the recession. And it was 2.3 percent below November’s 123.3, which is the historic peak for the Freight TSI since this data was first made available in 2000, according to BTS.

BTS said that large declines in trucking and pipeline, coupled with smaller declines in rail carloads and intermodal, were the drivers for the April decline, even though air freight and waterborne shipments saw gains.

On a year-to-date basis through April, shipments are down 1.7 percent compared to the end of 2014. Annually, April is up 0.3 percent compared to April 2014.