The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported this week that its Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) increased 0.4 percent from March to April (the most recent month for which data is available).
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 April Freight TSI at 117.6 is the second highest ever and 0.1 percent lower than November 2013’s all-time high of 117.8. And freight shipments are up 24.1 in the past 60 months since dropping to an April 2009 low of 94.8.
BTS officials said that the Freight TSI’s gain was paced by trucking and rail intermodal, which saw growth for the third straight month and the overall Freight TSI was also up for the third consecutive month, following a January nadir brought on by harsh winter weather.
On an annual basis, BTS said freight shipments in April were up 4.8 percent compared to February 2013.