The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported this week that its Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) saw a 0.6 percent decrease from August to September for its second straight decline.
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.
September’s Freight TSI at 121.5 was 2.6 percent below the all-time high of 124.7 recorded in July 2016 and 28.2 percent above the recent low of 94.8 recorded in April 2009. On a year-to-date basis through September, freight shipments are up 0.1 percent.
BTS said the 0.6 percent decline was due to declines in trucking, pipeline, and rail intermodal, as air freight, water, and rail carloads headed up.
And it added that the 0.7 percent third quarter decrease matched slow growth in Industrial Production, which remained unchanged in the third quarter, GDP growth quickened to 2.9 percent in the third quarter. GDP growth in the second and third quarters outpaced the 1.5 percent growth of TSI over those two quarters, after two earlier quarters when GDP grew less than 1 percent and TSI declined.