The amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry rose 1.2 percent in May from April, rising after a one month decline, according to the US Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics' (BTS) Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) released Wednesday. 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.
Freight shipments measured by the index were up 1.7 percent in May compared to the end of 2012. May 2013 freight shipments were also up 2.7 percent from May 2012.