BTS reports Freight TSI is flat sequentially and up 1.9 percent annually

The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported this week that its Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) was up 0.1 percent from June to July, following a 0.1 percent decline from May to June and flat growth from April to May.

On an annual basis, July shipments are up 1.9 percent over July 2011 and 12.9 percent higher than July 2011.

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 July Freight TSI at 109.6 is 16.3 percent higher than April 2009’s low point of 94.3 during the recession and is down 3.8 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 25 of the last 39 months, increasing by a cumulative 16.3 percent during that time.

BTS officials said that the Freight TSI in July “continued a pattern of little change since January,” which “appears to reflect the rate of growth in the general economy.”

And they added that July freight shipments hit their sixth highest monthly level since July 2008, even with a 3.8 percent drop off from the December 2011 peak of 114.0.