Truck freight as measured by the Freight Transportation Services Index rose 0.9 percent in January from a revised December level, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics said March 9.
January’s Freight TSI rose 6.9 percent from a year earlier. The Freight TSI increased 6.4 percent in 2010 based on revised numbers. The rise was the largest annual increase in the Freight TSI since 2002.
The index has increased in 16 of the last 21 months. In January, the index returned to the same level as in August 2008 when the index was early in the decline. For additional historic data, go to http://www.transtats.bts.gov/OSEA/TSI
January’s Freight TSI of 108.1 is down 4.6 percent from its peak of 113.3 in January 2005.
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.
