For-Hire Freight Posts 2% Decline for Last Year
The amount of freight moved by the nation’s for-hire sector fell in both the final month of last year and all of 2015, according to the U.S. Transportation Department.

Freight Transportation Services Index, December 2010 - December 2015. Graphic: U.S. DOT

Freight Transportation Services Index, December 2010 - December 2015.Graphic: U.S. DOT
The amount of freight moved by the nation’s for-hire sector fell in both the final month of last year and all of 2015, according to the U.S. Transportation Department.
The Freight Transportation Services Index declined 0.4% in December from November, the second consecutive monthly decline and the first back-to-back drop since February 2015, while it was 2.3% below the all-time high level of 123.8 in November 2014.
The November index was revised downward to 121.5 from 122.0 in last month’s release with smaller downward revisions for August through October.
For all of 2015 the index measured 121, down 2% from the year before and the first year-over-year decline since 2012, when it registered 112.2, but is up from a reading of 118.2 in 2013.
The December decline was broad in terms of the different transportation modes with all of them falling except for trucking, which increased slightly, according to the department. The decrease was driven by weakness in the mining, including oil and gas well drilling and servicing, utility and manufacturing sectors of the economy.
The fourth-quarter TSI decline of 1.2% from the third quarter matched trends in the larger economy and the largest quarterly decline since the first quarter of 2012. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth decreased to the relatively slow quarterly rate of 0.2% (which is equivalent to an annual rate of 0.7%) while a measure of industrial production also declined during the fourth quarter. The freight TSI also declined in three of the four quarters of 2015.
The Freight TSI measures the month-to-month changes in 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.
More Fleet Management

Kodiak Lines Up Fleets for Driverless Trucking
An agreement for 75 trucks, a new Texas freight lane, and progress on safety validation move Kodiak closer to its planned driverless highway launch.
Read More →
ITS Logistics Settles Religious Harassment Case
The Nevada-based logistics firm agreed to pay more than $396,000 to settle a religious harassment charge involving an employee's Jewish identity.
Read More →
Your Trucks Are Busy. That Doesn’t Mean They’re Winning.
High utilization doesn’t always mean strong margins. Looking beyond the current load can help fleets make better dispatch decisions and get more value from each truck’s time.
Read More →
Why This Trucking Recovery Is Different
Freight demand remains sluggish, but rising costs and tougher enforcement have taken enough capacity out of the market to change the outlook for motor carriers.
Read More →
Platform Science Adds Dispatch and Safety Tools
Four additions to PS Fleet help fleets monitor loads, manage driver coaching, share truck locations and adjust video system settings.
Read More →
PrePass Intelligence Mines Fleet Bypass, Toll and Safety Data
PrePass Intelligence helps fleets measure bypass savings, flag potential toll overcharges, and spot suspicious transactions by combining data from separate systems.
Read More →
Motive Adds AI Agents for Fleet Operations
New tools automate follow-up on fleet data, from maintenance work orders to driver alerts, with two-way voice conversations planned for later this year.
Read More →Can You Beat Our Trucking Trivia Challenge?
Test your truck knowledge with 19 trivia questions from Heavy Duty Trucking Exchange. Can you keep up with the fleet pros?
Read More →
BeyondTrucks Adds Rules Checks to Dispatch
New Compatibility Engine checks driver qualifications, equipment requirements and fleet policies before loads are dispatched.
Read More →
Diesel Prices Hijack Trucking’s Worry List
ATRI’s annual survey finds cautious optimism about freight, but diesel costs, litigation, and insurance continue to squeeze fleets. Drivers have different priorities on several issues.
Read More →
