The Freight Transportation Services Index fell 0.5 percent in June to 112.6 from the May level of 113.2, turning down after a one-month rise, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported today, Aug. 8. The June decline was the fourth monthly decline in 2006.
The Freight TSI level rose 0.3 percent from the June 2005 level, the fifth consecutive rise from June of the previous year — but the smallest year-to-year rise since a decline in 2001. For the first six months of 2006, the Freight TSI rose 1.5 percent, the third consecutive rise in the December-to-June period.
The overall TSI, which also includes passenger transportation data, fell 0.4 percent in June to 111.9 from its May level of 112.4, dropping after three consecutive monthly increases. The June decline was only the second monthly decline in 2006. For the first half of 2006, the TSI rose 1.3 percent, the third consecutive December-to-June rise.
The June level was 0.4 percent higher than the June 2005 level, the fourth consecutive increase from June of the previous year — but the smallest year-to-year rise since a decline in 2002. The June level was 11.7 percent higher than the June level of the baseline year of 2000.
The overall TSI is a 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 includes historic data from 1990 to the present.
