The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today that its Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) rose 1.2 percent from January to February, matching the gain from December to January. This marks the fourth straight month of gains.
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 February Freight TSI at 113.9 is 20.1 percent higher than April 2009’s low point of 94.3 during the recession and the highest Freight TSI since the 115.2 recorded in December 2011, which represents the all-time high since BTS first began collecting data in 1990.
On an annual basis, the February Freight TSI is up 2.7 percent, and BTS said that shipments are up 2.1 percent since February 2008 and up 10 percent since February 2003.