The Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI), which is based on the amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry, rose 0.2 percent in May from April, rising for the second consecutive month, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS). The May 2016 index level (121.8) was 28.6 percent above the April 2009 low during the most recent recession.
The level of freight shipments in May measured by the Freight TSI (121.8) was 1.5 percent below the all-time high level of 123.7 in December 2014.
The April index was revised to 121.5 from 121.1 and the March index was revised to 119.7 from 119.5 in last month’s release.
The Freight TSI measures the month-to-month changes in freight shipments by mode of transportation in tons and ton-miles, which are 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 April to May Freight TSI increase of 0.2 percent was due to growth in all freight modes except trucking and air freight, which declined.