Dec 2023 US freight TSI up 0.9% MoM, 1.8% YoY: BTS

The index rose by 1.8 per cent year on year (YoY).

The freight TSI increased in the month due to seasonally-adjusted increases in air freight, rail carload, rail intermodal and trucking, while pipeline and water declined, a BTS release said.

The level of for-hire freight shipments in December measured by the freight TSI (139.1) was 1.3 per cent below the all-time high of 141 reached in August 2019. BTS’ TSI records began in 2000.

The November index was revised to 137.8 from 138.6 in last month's release.

The freight TSI measures the month-to-month changes in for-hire freight shipments by mode of transportation in tonnes and tonne-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.

It is seasonally-adjusted to remove regular seasonal movement, which enables month-to-month comparisons.

The December increase came in the context of mixed results for some other indicators. The Federal Reserve Board industrial production index increased by 0.1 per cent in December, reflecting a 0.1-per cent rise in manufacturing.

The Institute for Supply Management manufacturing index for December increased by 0.7 points to 47.4, indicating manufacturing is continuing to contract, but at a slower pace, BTS noted.

The December freight index increase was the fifth increase in six months, leaving the index 1.6 per cent above the June level. The index increased 3.8 per cent since August 2021.

It exceeds the pandemic low in April 2020 by 12.1 per cent; it increased month-over-month in 26 of the 44 months since that low.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)