Freight TSI increases from December to January, reports BTS

The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported this week that its Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) headed up 0.5 percent from December to January, following a 0.4 percent decline from November to December, snapping two straight months of decreases.

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 January Freight TSI at 122.2 was 1.3 percent below the all-time high of 123.8 from November 2014 and is 29.0 percent above the recent low of 94.7 recorded in April 2009.

BTS said that January’s growth was paced by what it called substantial growth in rail intermodal and pipeline and a smaller increase in the largest mode, trucking. Air freight, water, and rail carloads all decreased, it said. 

And it added that the TSI increase paralleled growth in the Federal Reserve Board Industrial Production Index, which rose 0.9 percent in December (reversing two months of declines), in personal income, up 0.5 percent, and in employment, which continued steady growth. The ISM Manufacturing Index was also again below 50, indicating declining manufacturing activity and a continuing decrease in high inventories. The TSI growth took place despite severe winter weather.

BTS said that freight shipments measured by the Freight TSI saw a 0.5 percent gain in January in comparison to the end of 2015.