Freight TSI sees growth for second straight month, reports Bureau of Transportation Statistics

The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported this week that its Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) increased 0.2 percent from April to May. This marks the second straight month of growth, following a 1.3 percent March to April increase, which represented the largest increase since March 2014.

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.

May’s Freight TSI at 121.8 was 1.5 percent below the all-time high of 123.7 from December 2014 and is 27.9 percent above the recent low of 94.7 recorded in April 2009.

BTS said April’s increase was due to growth in all freight modes, except trucking and air freight, which both saw declines.

The combined increase of 1.8 percent over the two months from March to May was the largest two-month increase since September to November 2014, and the two months of successive increase followed two months of successive decline, leaving the May level 1.6 percent below the December 2014 peak of 123.7, said BTS.