Freight index reaches another all-time high

January 10, 2018

Tyson Fisher

|

In the Transportation Services Index, which measures freight movement in tons and ton-miles, increases in four of six modes, including another significant increase in trucking, led to another all-time high.

Trucking freight jumped forward for a fifth consecutive month, increasing from 146.9 to 148.4, an increase of more than 1 percent. Numbers from the American Trucking Associations reveal a tonnage increase of 2.3 percent from 148.4 in October to 151.8 in November. ATA calculates the tonnage index based on surveys of its membership.
TSI Chart for Jan. 2018

According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics of the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Transportation Services Index for November rose 0.2 percent to 130.8. In October, the index increased by 0.6 percent, replacing an all-time high set in September, which replaced an all-time high in August.

The November index was 38.1 percent above the low that was set during the recession in April 2009. TSI records began in 2000.

According to the DOT, the TSI’s upward movement coincides with growth in the Federal Reserve Board Industrial Production Index, employment, personal income and housing starts. Manufacturing and mining also increased.