The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported this week that its Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) dropped 0.7 percent from September to October, snapping a three-month run 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 October Freight TSI at 114.3 is 20.5 percent higher than April 2009’s low point of 94.8 during the recession. And it added that it is 0.7 percent September’s 115.1, which is the all-time high for the index.
BTS said the October Freight TSI 0.7 percent decrease was due to declines in air freight, rail carloads and especially in trucking on the heels of three months of increases from July through September.
But even with the decrease, BTS noted that the Freight TSI has been above its 2012 range through the first ten months of 2012, with each month topping December 2012’s high point of 112.2. And on an annual basis, the Freight TSI was up 5.3 percent.