The Freight Transportation Services Index rose 0.3 percent in February from January, increasing for the second consecutive month, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported today, April 14.
BTS said the Freight TSI has risen 3.6 percent over the last nine months, starting in June, after declining 15.3 percent in the previous 10 months. The index, which has increased in seven of the last nine months, has increased 0.7 percent the first two months of this year.
February’s Freight TSI of 96.9 is up 3.6 percent from the recent low of 93.5 in May 2009, when the index was at its lowest level since June 1997. The Freight TSI is down 14.1 percent from its historic peak of 112.9 in May 2006.
February’s Freight TSI is the lowest for February since February 1997 when it was 91.3. The freight index is down 13.3 percent in the five years from February 2005 and down 6.8 percent in the 10 years from February 2000.
The TSI is a seasonally adjusted index that measures the output of the for-hire freight transportation industry, including for-hire trucking, rail, inland waterways, pipelines and air freight. It includes historic data from 1990 to the present. The baseline year is 2000.
