Freight Shipments Rose 0.9% in September from August

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Freight Transportation Services Index, October 2009-September 2011

Freight Transportation Services Index, October 2009-September 2011

Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011 - The amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry rose 0.9 percent in September from August, reaching the highest level since July 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Transportations 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 the level of freight shipments, measured by the Freight TSI, rose 4.2 percent in the last four months to reach the new level (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 September 2011 (109.6 on the index) were at the highest level since July 2008 (109.9). July 2008 was followed by six straight months of decline. After dipping to a recent low in April 2009 (94.3), freight shipments increased in 20 of the last 28 months. Shipments rose 16.2 percent over the last 29 months starting from April 2009 after declining 15.5 percent from February 2008 to April 2009 (Tables 2, 2A). For additional historic data, go to http://www.bts.gov/xml/tsi/src/index.xml.

Year-to-date: For the first nine months of 2011, freight shipments measured by the index were up 2.5 percent (Table 3).

Index highs and lows: Freight shipments in September 2011 (109.6 on the index) rose 16.2 percent 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 September 2011 level is down 3.3 percent from the historic freight shipment peak reached in January 2005 (113.3).

Long-term trend: Freight shipments are down 1.4 percent in the five years from September 2006. Shipments are up 11.8 percent in the 10 years from September 2001 despite declines in recent years (Table 5).

Same month of previous year: Although September 2011 freight shipments rose 4.4 percent from September 2010 and 11.9 percent from September 2009, they remain below the all-time high for the month of September (111.2) reached in 2006 (Tables 4, 5).

3rd Quarter Changes: The Freight TSI rose 1.2 percent in the third quarter, following one quarterly decline. The index rose in eight of the last nine quarters (Table 10).

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 October index is scheduled for Dec. 14.

On Sept. 14, BTS presented a webinar on the Freight TSI and its relationship to the cycles of the general economy. It is available here.

For a video explanation of the TSI, see Overview of the Transportation Services Index. A BTS report explaining the TSI, Transportation Services Index and the Economy, is available for download.

Passenger Index: The TSI for passengers rose 0.9 percent in September from its August level (Table 6). The Passenger TSI September 2011 level of 116.5 was 2.4 percent above the September 2010 level (Table 7). The index is up 5.4 percent in five years and up 45.0 percent in 10 years (Table 5). The passenger TSI rose 0.7 percent in the third quarter, rising for the ninth time in the past 10 quarters (Table 11).

The passenger TSI measures the month-to-month changes in travel conducted in the for-hire passenger transportation sector. The seasonally adjusted index consists of data from air, local transit and intercity rail.

Combined Index: The combined freight and passenger TSI rose 0.9 percent in September from its August level (Table 8). The combined TSI September 2011 level of 111.4 was 3.9 percent above the September 2010 level (Table 9). The combined index is up 0.4 percent in five years and up 20.3 percent in 10 years despite recent declines (Table 5). The combined TSI rose 1.1 percent in the third quarter, for the ninth consecutive quarterly increase (Table 12). The combined TSI merges the freight and passenger indexes into a single index.

Revisions: TSI numbers for May (Freight, Passenger and Combined) were revised because of revisions in the output data of the component transportation services. The May Freight TSI is 105.2, revised from 105.6 reported in last months release. The May Passenger TSI is 115.6, revised from 116.3. The May Combined TSI is 107.9, revised from 108.4. The TSI for June, July, August and September are preliminary.

TSI revision policy: TSI is updated monthly with the latest four months index numbers considered preliminary. Each month BTS releases the latest preliminary TSI, and replaces the oldest preliminary TSI with a revised TSI. More information about the monthly revision policy, is available at http://www.bts.gov/xml/tsi/src/index.xml

More information about the comprehensive revision conducted with the March release is provided under 2011 Comprehensive Revision at http://www.bts.gov/xml/tsi/src/index.xml.