The amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry in the US fell 1.0 percent in December from November, declining after a one-month rise, according to the US Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS) Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) released Wednesay. The December 2013 index level (116.5) was 23.0 percent above the April 2009 low during the most recent recession. The decline in December from November resulted from slight declines across all modes.
Year-to-date, freight shipments measured by the index were up 4.4 percent in December compared to the end of 2012, the fourth year in the last five in which the index was higher in December than in the previous year. The only decline was in 2012. Additionally, freight shipments are up 16.2 percent in the five years from the recession level of December 2008 and are up 7.8 percent in the 10 years from December 2003.