BTS: Transportation Services Index rises in May

The Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) rose 0.8 percent in May from April’s seasonally adjusted index, rising after one month of decline, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported yesterday.

The index is based on the amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry. The May index level of 122.7 was 0.5 percent below the all-time high level of 123.3 set in November 2014.

"There was a large increase in trucking, reversing an April decline," according to the BTS analysis. "Waterborne also rose along with a smaller increase in pipeline. These increases outweighed declines in air freight, rail carloads and rail intermodal to produce the 0.8 percent rise in the overall freight index in May."

Also, freight shipments in May were up 1.7 percent compared with May 2014.