BTS - Bureau of Transportation Statistics
10/10/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/10/2024 08:09
August 2024 Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) Up 1.1% from the Previous Month and Up 1.0% from the Same Month Last Year
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August 2024 Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) Up 1.1% from the Previous Month and Up 1.0% from the Same Month Last Year
Thursday, October 10, 2024
BTS 46-24
This release is published on a fixed schedule as required by the Office of Management and Budget, and statistics in this release may be revised when inputs to the statistics are corrected or updated. Data on the program page of this website are the most up-to-date and complete.
August 2024 Freight Shipment Index Infographic
The Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI), which is based on the amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry, rose 1.1% in August from July, rising for the first month this quarter, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). From August 2023 to August 2024 the index rose 1.0% (Tables 1, 2, and 2A).
Line chart showing freight transportation services index in August 2021 through August 2024
Freight Transportation Services Index, August 2021 - August 2024
The level of for-hire freight shipments in August measured by the Freight TSI (139.9) was 1.1% below the all-time high of 141.5 reached in August 2019 (Table 2A). BTS' TSI records begin in 2000. See historical TSI data.
The July index was revised to 138.4 from 139.0 in last month's release.
BTS will release the passenger and combined indexes for August next month, because air passenger travel continues to deviate from regular seasonal patterns, as it adjusts to the effects induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. The July passenger and combined indexes are available on the BTS website. Air freight for August is also a statistical estimate. Since air freight makes up a smaller part of the freight index, the freight TSI is being released as scheduled with the air freight estimate included.
The Freight TSI measures the month-to-month changes in for-hire freight shipments by mode of transportation in tons and ton-miles, which are 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. The TSI is seasonally-adjusted to remove regular seasonal movement, which enables month-to-month comparisons.
Analysis: The Freight TSI increased in August due to seasonally adjusted increases in water, rail carload, rail intermodal, trucking, and air freight while pipeline declined.
The August increase came in the context of growth in several other indicators. The Federal Reserve Board Industrial Production (IP) Index grew by 0.8% in August, reflecting growth of 0.9% in manufacturing and 0.8% in mining while utilities were unchanged. Housing starts were up 9.6% and Personal Income increased by 0.2%.
The Institute for Supply Management Manufacturing (ISM) index was up 0.4 points to 47.2. A reading above 50 indicates an expansion of U.S. manufacturing, while a reading below 50 indicates a contraction.
Although the August Passenger TSI is being withheld because of the previously cited difficulty of estimating airline passenger travel and other components, the July index is now being released. The index decreased 2.7% from June to July. Seasonally adjusted transit, rail passenger, and air passenger all declined.
The Passenger TSI has now exceeded its level in March 2020 -the first month of the pandemic- for thirty-eight months in a row but remains below its pre-pandemic level (February 2020) for the 53rd consecutive month.
Trend: The August freight index increase was the first since May and the second in four months, leaving the index 3.4% above its level in April 2024. The index increased 5.3% since August 2021. The August Freight TSI exceeds the pandemic low in April 2020 by 12.6%; the index increased month-over-month in 30 of the 52 months since that low.
For additional historical data, go to TSI data.
Index highs and lows: For-hire freight shipments in August 2024 (139.9) were 47.1% higher than the low in April 2009 during the recession (95.1). The August 2024 level was 1.1% below the historic peak (since 2000) reached in August 2019 (141.5) (Table 1A).
Year to date: For-hire freight shipments measured by the index were up 1.0% in August compared to the end of 2023 (Table 3).
Long-term trend: For-hire freight shipments are down 1.1% in the five years from August 2019 and are up 15.7% in the 10 years from August 2014 (Table 5).
Same month of previous year: August 2024 for-hire freight shipments were up 1.0% from August 2023 (Tables 4, 5).
The TSI has three seasonally-adjusted indexes that measure changes from the monthly average of the base year of 2000. The three indexes are freight shipments, passenger travel and a combined measure that merges the freight and passenger indexes. See Seasonally-Adjusted Transportation Data for numbers for individual modes. TSI includes data from 2000 to the present. Release of the September 2024 index is scheduled for November 7, 2024.
Revisions: Monthly data has changed from previous releases due to the use of concurrent seasonal analysis, which results in seasonal analysis factors changing as each month's data are added.
BTS research has shown a clear relationship between economic cycles and the Freight and Passenger Transportation Services Indexes. See a study of this relationship using smoothed and detrended TSI data. Researchers who wish to compare TSI over time with other economic indicators, can use the FRED database, which includes freight, passenger and combined TSI, and which makes it possible to easily graph TSI alongside the other series in that database. See TSI data on FRED.
For charts and discussion on the relationship of the TSI to the economy, see Transportation as an Economic Indicator: Transportation Services Index.
A BTS report explaining the TSI, Transportation Services Index and the Economy, is available for download.
Table A: Summary of Revisions to Freight TSI in Previous 12 Months
Freight TSI
Current release
Previous month's release
Percent change
Aug-23
138.5
139.8
-0.93
Sep-23
138.6
139.4
-0.57
Oct-23
138.6
139.4
-0.57
Nov-23
137.7
138.4
-0.51
Dec-23
138.5
139.0
-0.36
Jan-24
134.2
134.9
-0.52
Feb-24
137.9
138.7
-0.58
Mar-24
136.9
137.8
-0.65
Apr-24
135.3
135.9
-0.44
May-24
138.7
139.5
-0.57
Jun-24
138.4
139.3
-0.65
Jul-24
138.4
139.0
-0.43
SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics. See Transportation Services Index for documentation, data and other background information.
NOTE: The entire Freight TSI is revised monthly. Changes shown only for the previous 12 months.
Table 1: Freight Transportation Services Index since February 2024
Percent Change from Previous Month
(Seasonally-Adjusted, Monthly Average of 2000 = 100)
Freight
Index
Percent change
February
137.9
2.8
March
136.9
-0.7
April
135.3
-1.2
May
138.7
2.5
June
138.4
-0.2
July
138.4
0.0
August
139.9
1.1
SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics. See Transportation Services Index for documentation, data and other background information.
NOTE: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.
Table 1A: Annual High and Low Points in Freight Transportation Services Index, 2020-2024
Year
Month of peak
Value
at peak
Month of low
Value
at low
2019
August
141.5
December
136.0
2020
January
135.9
April
124.3
2021
April
136.8
February
132.7
2022
March
139.8
November
135.4
2023
February
140.2
May
137.1
2024
August
139.9
January
134.2
SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics. See Transportation Services Index for documentation, data and other background information.
Table 2: Freight Transportation Services Index Monthly Changes, 2021-2024
Percent change from previous month
2021
2022
2023
2024
Percent
change
Percent
change
Percent
change
Percent
change
January
1.3
0.6
1.0
-3.1
February
-2.6
0.8
2.2
2.8
March
1.9
0.9
-1.5
-0.7
April
1.2
-0.6
-0.7
-1.2
May
-0.7
-0.1
-0.1
2.5
June
-0.7
0.3
0.4
-0.2
July
-0.7
-0.6
1.0
0.0
August
-0.7
0.7
-0.4
1.1
September
0.7
0.2
0.1
October
1.2
-1.0
0.0
November
0.7
-2.0
-0.6
December
0.3
0.3
0.6
SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics. See Transportation Services Index for documentation, data and other background information.
Table 2A: Freight Transportation Services Index by Month, 2021-2024
2021
2022
2023
2024
January
136.3
137.5
137.2
134.2
February
132.7
138.6
140.2
137.9
March
135.2
139.8
138.1
136.9
April
136.8
138.9
137.2
135.3
May
135.8
138.7
137.1
138.7
June
134.8
139.1
137.6
138.4
July
133.9
138.3
139.0
138.4
August
132.9
139.2
138.5
139.9
September
133.8
139.5
138.6
October
135.4
138.1
138.6
November
136.3
135.4
137.7
December
136.7
135.8
138.5
SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics. See Transportation Services Index for documentation, data and other background information.
Table 3: Freight Transportation Services Index Year-to-Date Change, 2015-2024
Year
Freight
2015
0.1
2016
2.5
2017
3.8
2018
2.2
2019
2.7
2020
-3.2
2021
-1.2
2022
1.8
2023
2.0
2024
1.0
SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics. See Transportation Services Index for documentation, data and other background information.
Table 4: Freight Transportation Services Index from Year-to-Year
Percent Change in the August Freight TSI
(Monthly average of 2000 = 100)
August Freight TSI
Percent change
from same month
previous year
2015
123.4
2.1
2016
123.8
0.3
2017
129.5
4.6
2018
136.9
5.7
2019
141.5
3.4
2020
131.6
-7.0
2021
132.9
1.0
2022
139.2
4.7
2023
138.5
-0.5
2024
139.9
1.0
SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics. See Transportation Services Index for documentation, data and other background information.
NOTE: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.
Table 5: Freight Transportation Services Index from Previous Years
Percent Change to 2024 (August to August)
Since
August
. . .
Duration
in years
Freight TSI
percent change to
August 2024
2023
1
1.0
2022
2
0.5
2021
3
5.3
2020
4
6.3
2019
5
-1.1
2018
6
2.2
2017
7
8.0
2016
8
13.0
2015
9
13.4
2014
10
15.7
SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics. See Transportation Services Index for documentation, data and other background information.
Brief Explanation of the TSI
The Transportation Services Index (TSI) is a measure of the month-to-month changes in the output of services provided by the for-hire transportation industries. The freight index measure changes in freight shipments while the passenger index measures changes in passenger travel.
The TSI tells us how the output of transportation services has increased or decreased from month to month. The index can be examined together with other economic indicators to produce a better understanding of the current and future course of the economy. The movement of the index over time can be compared with other economic measures to understand the relationship of changes in transportation output to changes in Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The freight transportation index consists of:
For-hire trucking,
Railroad freight services (including rail based intermodal shipments such as containers on flat cars),
Inland waterways transportation,
Pipeline transportation (including principally petroleum and petroleum products and natural gas), and
Air freight.
The index does not include international or coastal waterborne movements, private trucking, courier services, or the US Postal Service.
The passenger transportation index consists of:
Local transit,
Intercity passenger rail, and
Passenger air transportation.
The index does not include intercity bus, sightseeing services, ferry services, taxi service, private automobile usage, or bicycling and other non-motorized transportation.
The TSI includes only domestic "for-hire" freight and passenger transportation. For-hire transportation consists of freight or passenger transport services provided by a firm to external customers for a fee. The TSI does not include taxi services, paid ride services in personal motor vehicles (e.g., Uber, Lyft, etc.), intercity bus services, in-house transportation (vehicles owned and operated by private firms for their own use), or noncommercial passenger travel (e.g., trips in the household car).