Freight TSI heads up from February to March

The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported this week that its Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) headed up 1.7 percent from February to March, following a 1.7 percent decline from January to February.

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 122.9, the Freight TSI was 29.9 percent above April 2009’s low of 94.6, which was during the depths of the recession. It was 0.4 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.

On a year-to-date basis, the Freight TSI was down 0.2 percent in March compared to the end of 2014. BTS said this increase marks the smallest quarterly increase since the third quarter of 2012, save for a decline on the second quarter of 2014.

BTS said the Freight TSI in March was up 3.1 percent annually.