The amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry rose 0.1% in November from October, rising after one monthly decrease, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS) Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) released today (Table 1).
BTS, a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported that at 109.5 the level of freight shipments, measured by the Freight TSI, declined slightly from the recent peak achieved in September, but still remained higher than any other month since July 2008 (Table 2A).
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.
Trend: Shipments in November 2011 (109.5 on the index) were at the second highest level since July 2008 (109.9) after reaching the highest level in more than three years in September (109.6). July 2008, the previous high, was followed by six straight months of decline. After dipping to a recent low in April 2009 (94.3), freight shipments increased in 21 of the last 31 months, rising 16.1% during that period (Tables 2, 2A). For additional historic data, go to http://www.bts.gov/xml/tsi/src/index.xml.
Year-to-date: For the first 11 months of 2011, freight shipments measured by the index were up 2.4% (Table 3).
Index highs and lows: Freight shipments in November 2011 (109.5 on the index) rose 16.1% from the recent low in April 2009 (94.3). In April 2009, freight shipments were at their lowest level since June 1997 (92.3). The November 2011 level is down 3.4% from the historic freight shipment peak reached in January 2005 (113.3).
Long-term trend: Freight shipments are up 2.1% in the five years from November 2006 and up 12.0% in the 10 years from November 2001 despite declines in recent years (Table 5).
Same month of previous year: Although November 2011 freight shipments rose 4.9% from November 2010 and 9.4% from November 2009, they remain below the all-time high for the month of November (112.5) reached in 2005 (Tables 4, 5).
The TSI is a seasonally adjusted index that measures changes from the monthly average of the base year of 2000. It includes historic data from 1990 to the present. Release of the December index is scheduled for Feb. 8, 2012.