The Freight Transportation Services Index for freight fell 0.8 percent in July to 111.7 from the June level of 112.6, turning down for the second consecutive month, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported today, Sept. 6.
The Freight TSI rose from 111.6 in July 2005, the fifth consecutive rise from July of the previous year — but the smallest year-to-year rise since a decline in 2001. For the first seven months of 2006, the Freight TSI rose 0.7 percent, the third consecutive rise in the December-to-July period — but the smallest increase since a decline in 2003.
The overall TSI, which also includes passenger transportation data, fell 0.4 percent in July to 111.5 from its June level of 111.9, dropping for the second consecutive month. The declines in June and July are the first consecutive monthly declines in the TSI since October 2005, which was the last of five consecutive monthly declines. For the first seven months of 2006, the overall TSI rose 0.9 percent, the third consecutive December-to-July rise — but the smallest increase since a decline in 2003.
The July level for the combined freight and passenger index was 0.1 percent higher than the July 2005 level, the fifth consecutive increase from July of the previous year — but the smallest year-to-year rise since no change in 2001. The July level was 12.3 percent higher than the July level of the baseline year of 2000.
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 includes historic data from 1990 to the present.
