Transportation news: BTS Freight Transportation Services Index is down from previous levels

The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today that its Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) fell 0.4 percent in May, following two months of sequential increases.

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 also noted that the Freight TSI at 97.7 was up 4.4 percent year-over-year. May 2009 marked the lowest level for the Freight TSI since June 1997, and the Freight TSI is down 13.5 percent from its historic peak of 112.9 in May 2006.

While the Freight TSI is up 4.4 percent year-over-year, the BTS said it is below the level of every other May since 1997’s 92.7. And March 2010 marks the first month since July 2008 in which the Freight TSI topped the previous year’s level.

The Freight TSI is down 12.4 percent since May 2005 and is down 1.8 percent since May 2000, according to the BTS.