DOT freight measure unchanged in May from April

The Freight TSI has shown little change since dropping in January from its December peak. The 2012 plateau in the freight TSI appears to reflect slowing growth in the general economy, BTS noted.

The Trucker News Services

7/12/2012

WASHINGTON — The amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry was unchanged in May from April, after a one-month rise, according to the Freight Transportation Services Index, released by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

The May index level (109.6) was 16.3 percent above the April 2009 low during the recession, BTS, a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported.

The level of freight shipments in May declined 3.8 percent from the level of December 2011 (114.0), which was the all-time high since 1990 when BTS’ TSI records began.

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The Freight TSI measures the month-to-month changes in freight shipments by mode of transportation 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.

The Freight TSI has shown little change since dropping in January from its December peak. The 2012 plateau in the freight TSI appears to reflect slowing growth in the general economy, BTS noted.

Still, freight shipments in May were at the fifth highest monthly level since the early recession month of July 2008 despite the decline from its peak last December. After dipping to a recent low in April 2009 (94.3) during the recession, freight shipments increased in 24 of the last 37 months, rising 16.3 percent during that period.

Kevin Jones of The Trucker staff can be reached for comment at kevinj@thetrucker.com.

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