The Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI), which is based on the amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry, rose 0.6 percent in July from June, rising after a single month of decline, according to the US Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS). The July 2015 index level (122.8) was 29.7 percent above the April 2009 low during the most recent recession.
The level of freight shipments in July measured by the Freight TSI (122.8) was 0.5 percent below the all-time high level of 123.5 in November 2014. BTS’ TSI records begin in 2000.
The June index was revised to 122.1 from 121.9 in last month’s release. The March, April, and May indexes were also revised up slightly.
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.