Wednesday, October 15, 2025
BTS 63-25  The Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI), fell 0.1% in August from July, falling for the month after one month of growth, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). From August 2024 to August 2025 the index remained unchanged. The freight TSI measures the amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry.  The Passenger TSI rose 0.6% in August from July, rising for the first month after two months of decline. From August 2024 to August 2025 the index rose 1.4%. The passenger TSI measures passenger transportation volumes on local transit, intercity rail, and air transportation. The Combined Freight and Passenger Index rose by 0.2% in August from July and rose by 0.5% from August 2024 to August 2025.  Analysis: The Freight TSI decreased in August due to decreases in air freight, rail carloads, rail intermodal, and pipeline while trucking and waterborne increased. The passenger index increased in August due to increases in air passenger, rail passenger, and transit. Despite the increase, the August Passenger TSI remained below the 2025 high and 7.7% below the all-time high in January 2020. The table below shows Freight TSI and its changes in the context of other important monthly economic indicators. The table shows seasonally adjusted indicators unless noted. | Economic Indicator | June | July | August | | Freight Transportation Services Index | 137.0 | 139.0 | 138.9 | | Percent Change | 0.0 | 1.5 | -0.1 | | Federal Reserve Board (FRB) Industrial Production Index | 104.2 | 103.8 | 103.9 | | Percent Change | 0.5 | -0.4 | 0.1 | | FRB Manufacturing (percent change) | 0.2 | -0.1 | 0.2 | | FRB Mining (percent change) | 0.4 | -1.5 | 0.9 | | FRB Utilities (percent change) | 2.6 | -0.7 | -2.0 | | Housing Starts (thousands of units) | 1,382.0 | 1,429.0 | 1,307.0 | | Percent Change | 7.8 | 3.4 | -8.5 | | Retail Sales: Retail Trade (millions of nominal dollars) | 624,146.0 | 628,620.0 | NA | | Percent Change | 1.0 | 0.7 | NA | | Personal Income (billions of chained 2017 dollars) | 20,576.0 | 20,625.7 | 20,646.5 | | Percent Change | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.1 | Institute for Supply Management Manufacturing Index (percent)
(50+ = expansion) | 49.0 | 48.0 | 48.7 | | Percentage Point Change | 0.5 | -1.0 | 0.7 | BTS estimates air freight and air passenger one month ahead of reported data (i.e., the air data are available through July, BTS estimates the August air passenger and freight in the August index). 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 revised the July freight index to 139.0 from 138.0 in last month's release and the July passenger index to 125.6 from 126.5. BTS scheduled the release of the July 2025 index for November 13, 2025.
See Seasonally-Adjusted Transportation Data for historical data from 2000 to the present and numbers for individual modes. The TSI and modal data also can be found on the FRED database. See Transportation as an Economic Indicator: Transportation Services Index for charts and discussion about the TSI and its relationship to the economy. The BTS report, Transportation Services Index and the Economy, provides a detailed explanation about the relationship between the TSI and economic cycles. Looking for tables? BTS moved all tables online to streamline the monthly release. Brief Explanation of the TSI
The TSI measures 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 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.
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). To receive updates from BTS directly to your email, please consider subscribing to our GovDelivery service. |
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