Freight activity rose 0.4% in September
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported November 12 that the seasonally adjusted Freight Transportation Services Index increased 0.4% from August to 135.8 in September. It was the second consecutive monthly gain after a revised 0.3% increase in August. The index nevertheless remained 1.5% below September 2025, so the latest report shows short-term improvement without erasing the year-over-year decline.
Trucking helped lift the multimodal index
BTS attributed the September increase to higher activity in trucking, rail intermodal and water transportation. Air freight and rail carloads declined, while pipeline volumes were unchanged. The agency does not publish a trucking percentage contribution in the release, so the 0.4% headline must not be presented as a 0.4% increase in truck freight, rates, revenue or loads. It measures the combined output of several domestic for-hire freight modes.
A large August revision changes the recent path
BTS revised the August Freight TSI to 135.3 from 134.4 in the prior release. With the updated series, the index moved from 134.9 in July to 135.3 in August and 135.8 in September. BTS explains that concurrent seasonal analysis can change prior months as each new month of data is added. Fleets comparing releases should use the latest published series rather than mixing unrevised headlines.
Some September inputs were estimated
The release says September pipeline petroleum and air-freight data were estimated because those source series were available only through August. BTS also estimated September waterborne data because it was unavailable. The index can be revised when complete inputs arrive. That makes the report useful as a broad directional signal, but not a final count of shipments or a substitute for a carrier’s booked-load and customer data.
The index does not cover every trucking operation
Freight TSI includes domestic for-hire trucking along with rail, water, pipeline and air freight. It excludes private trucking, courier services, the U.S. Postal Service, and international or coastal waterborne movements. It also does not report spot or contract rates, equipment-specific demand, regional capacity, tender rejection, load count or carrier profitability. A national increase can therefore coexist with weak conditions in a particular lane or segment.
Driver and fleet takeaway
Fleets and owner-operators should treat the second monthly gain as a reason to test for improvement in their own network, not as proof of a broad recovery. Compare customer tenders, loaded and empty miles, revenue per total mile, fuel, detention, dwell time, utilization and accepted rates by lane and equipment type. Confirm that any volume increase produces positive margin before adding capacity, changing driver schedules or accepting lower-priced freight. Drivers should expect conditions to vary by customer and region and should not infer more available work or higher pay from the national index alone. BTS is scheduled to release the October index on December 9.
Bureau of Transportation Statistics — September 2026 Freight Transportation Services Index
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