The amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry rose 0.3 percent in March from February, rising for the fifth consecutive month, according to the US Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics' (BTS) Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) released Wednesday. The March 2013 index level was 19.9 percent above the April 2009 low during the most recent recession.
While the Freight TSI increased for a fifth consecutive month in March 2013, the improvement was slower than the average growth of the index in that period. There was growth across most freight modes but seasonally adjusted rail traffic declined.
March 2013 freight shipments were up 2.8 percent from March 2012 and the Freight TSI rose 1.3 percent in the first quarter, the second consecutive quarterly increase. The index rose in 12 of the last 15 quarters since mid-2009.