Freight TSI is down sequentially and annually, reports BTS

The United States Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) recently reported that its Freight Transportation Services Index (Freight TSI) saw both sequential and annual declines, for the month of February, the most recent month for which data is available.    

According to BTS officials, the Freight TSI measures the month-to-month changes in freight shipments 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 airfreight.

The February reading—at 132.2—decreased 3.6%, from January to February, down to its lowest level going back to September 2020, on the heels of five straight months of growth. And on an annual basis, the February Freight TSI was off 2.7%.

BTS said that the February Freight TSI is 6.6% below the August 2019 all-time high of 141.5.n And it added that the 3.6% sequential decline was attributed to seasonally-adjusted decreases in truck tonnage, rail intermodal and rail carload, and waterborne, while there was pipeline and air freight growth. BTS said it was driven by severe winter weather events in February, which impacted surface modes, adding the decrease “took place against the background of decline in most other indicators.”

BTS also reported the following:

• the February decline was the largest monthly decrease since April 2020, and was the second largest decrease since March 2009;
• the freight TSI is now below its level of October 2020;
• the index is 6.5% below its record level of 141.5 in August 2019 and has decreased in seven of the last 18 months since that peak;
• for-hire freight shipments in February 2021 (132.2) were 39.3% higher than the low in April 2009 during the recession (94.9);
• the February 2021 level was 6.6% below the historic peak reached in August 2019 (141.5);
• for-hire freight shipments measured by the index were down 1.8% in February compared to the end of 2020; and
• for-hire freight shipments are up 8.6% in the five years from February 2016 and are up 20.6% in the 10 years from February 2011