Freight Transportation Service Index trends down again, reports BTS

The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) recently reported that its Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) dipped 0.7% from April to May, the most recent month for which data is available.

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 reading, at 135.4, marks the second straight month of declines, falling 0.7% from April and 0.2% annually, with the latter well off an 8.6% annual gain from May 2017 to May 2018.

The May reading was 2.4% below the all-time high of 138.7 recorded in November 2018 and was 42.8% higher than the all-time low of 94.8 recorded during the recession in April 2009. On a year-to-date basis through May, the Freight TSI is down 0.6% annually.

BTS said the May decline was driven by decreases in rail carloads, rail intermodal, trucking and water, with air freight and pipeline seeing gains. And it added that along with May being down for the second straight month, it also has now seen declines for the third time in the last four months and the fourth time in six months for a cumulative 2.4% decline, going back to its most recent November 2018 peak.