Wednesday, February 9, 2011 – The Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) rose 1.5 percent in December from its November level, rising after one monthly decline, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today (Table 1).
BTS, a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported that the Freight TSI rose 6.9 percent over the last 19 months, starting in June 2009, after declining 15.3 percent in the previous 10 months beginning in August 2008. The index has increased in 14 of the last 19 months (Table 2). In 2010, the index increased 0.4 percent (Table 3). With next month’s release, BTS will conduct a comprehensive revision, delayed one month from the previously announced revision. The revision will result in changes to the 2010 numbers, especially for those months that have not undergone the monthly revision and are currently classified as preliminary. For additional historic data, go to http://www.bts.gov/xml/tsi/src/index.xml.
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 December Freight TSI of 100.0 is a 6.9 percent increase from the recent low of 93.5 reached in May 2009. In May 2009, the index was at its lowest level since June 1997. The December Freight TSI is down 11.4 percent from its historic peak of 112.9 reached in May 2006.
