The level of for-hire freight shipments in February measured by the Freight TSI (138.7) was 2.0% below the all-time high level of 141.5 in August 2022 (Table 2A). BTS’ TSI records begin in 2000. See historical TSI data. 

The January index was revised to 136.8 from 137.8 in last month's release.

BTS is withholding the scheduled release of the passenger and combined indexes for February. The passenger index for February is a statistical estimate of airline passenger travel and other components based on historical trends up to January 2023. The statistical estimate does not fully account for the rapidly changing impacts of the coronavirus on the historical trend. Air freight and waterborne for February are statistical estimates. Since air freight and waterborne make up a smaller part of the freight index, the freight TSI is being released as scheduled with the air freight estimate included. The January passenger and combined indexes are available on the BTS website.

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 February due to seasonally adjusted increases in rail intermodal, water, air freight, and trucking, while rail carload, and pipeline declined.

The February increase came in the context of strong results for several other indicators. The Federal Reserve Board Industrial Production (IP) Index was unchanged in February, reflecting increases of 0.5% in utilities and 0.1% in manufacturing, while mining declined by 0.6%. Housing starts were up 9.8% while personal income increased by 0.3%.

The Institute for Supply Management Manufacturing (ISM) index was up 0.3 point to 47.7, indicating continued contraction in manufacturing.

Although the February Passenger TSI is being withheld because of the previously cited difficulty of estimating airline passenger travel and other components, the January index is now being released. The index increased 0.7% from December to January. Seasonally adjusted transit, rail passenger and air passenger all increased.

The Passenger TSI has now exceeded its level in March 2020 —the first month of the pandemic— for 20 months in a row but remains below its pre-pandemic level (February 2020) for the 35th consecutive month.

Trend: The February freight index increase followed a January decrease and was 0.7% above the December level.  This was only the third increase in seven months, for an overall decrease of 1.1% since July. It was the 12th month-over-month increase in 18 months, for a total increase of 3.3% since August 2021. The February Freight TSI is 11.9% above the pandemic low in April 2020; it has increased in 21 of the 34 months since that low. The index is now 1.8% below its previous record level of 141.2 set in August 2019, despite increasing in 21 of the 42 months since that earlier peak.

For additional historical data, go to TSI data.

Index highs and lows: For-hire freight shipments in February 2023 (138.7) were 46.0% higher than the low in April 2009 during the recession (95.0). The February 2023 level was 2% below the historic peak reached in August 2022 (141.5) (Table 1A).

Year to date: For-hire freight shipments measured by the index were up 0.7% in February compared to the end of 2022 (Table 3).

Long-term trend: For-hire freight shipments are up 3.4% in the five years from February 2018 and are up 19.6% in the 10 years from February 2013 (Table 5).  

Same month of previous year: February 2023 for-hire freight shipments were down 0.8% from February 2022 (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 March 2023 index is scheduled for May 10, 2023.

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

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 August 2022 
Percent Change from Previous Month
(Seasonally-Adjusted, Monthly Average of 2000 = 100)

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, 2009-2023 

SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics. See Transportation Services Index for documentation, data and other background information.

Table 2: Freight Transportation Services Index Monthly Changes, 2020-2023
Percent change from previous month

SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics. See Transportation Services Index for documentation, data and other background information.

Table 2A: Freight Transportation Services Index by Month, 2020-2023

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, 2014-2023
Percent change to February from December of the previous year

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 February Freight TSI 
(Monthly average of 2000 = 100)

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 2023 (February to February)

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).