BTS reports Freight TSI is down 1.9 percent in October

The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported this week that its Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) dropped 1.9 percent from September to October, following a 0.2 percent gain 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 October Freight TSI at 107.1 is 13.6 percent higher than April 2009’s low point of 94.3 during the recession and is down 6.0 percent from the December 2011 reading of 114.0, which represents the all-time high since BTS first began collecting data in 1990.

And since April 2009, BTS said that freight shipments have risen in 27 of the last 42 months, increasing by a cumulative 13.6 percent during that time.

The October Freight TSI dropped to its lowest level since May 2011, when it was at 105.2. The high water mark for the index in 2012 is February’s 110.6.

On an annual basis, October shipments are down 1.6 percent compared to October 2011 and 10.1 percent higher than October 2009.