The Freight Transportation Services Index fell 0.8 percent in February from the January level, falling after a one-month increase, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today, April 6.
The February 2006 level of 111.4 is 0.1 percent lower than the February 2005 level, the first decline from February of the previous year since 2001. For the first two months of 2006, the Freight TSI fell 0.3 percent, the first decline in the two-month period since 2003.
The overall TSI, which also includes passenger transportation data, fell 0.9 percent in February from its January level, falling for the third consecutive month. The last monthly decline that was greater than February’s 0.9 percent was a decline in February 2005 of 1.4 percent. For the first two months of 2006, the overall TSI fell 1.0 percent, the first decline in the two-month period since 2003. However, the February level of 110.2 for the combined freight and passenger index was 0.2 percent higher than the February 2005 level, the fourth consecutive rise from February of the previous year.
TSI is a single seasonally-adjusted index of the month-to-month changes in the output of services provided by the for-hire transportation industries, including railroad, air, truck, inland waterways, pipeline and local transit. The index, which includes historic data from 1990 to the present, remains under development and is considered experimental. The baseline year for the index is 2000.
