The Freight Transportation Services Index fell 0.2 percent in February to 107.7 from the January level of 107.9, falling for the second consecutive month, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported today, April 11.
The February freight index was down 1.8 percent from its February 2006 level, and down 4.6 percent from its peak of 112.8 first achieved in January 2005. Year-to-date, the freight index has declined 0.7 percent, the second consecutive December-to-February decline.
The overall index, which also includes passenger data, fell 0.3 percent in February to 109.2 from its January level of 109.5, falling for the second consecutive month. The February decline was the sixth monthly decline in the past nine months and the 20th decline in the 38 months since January 2004. The overall index is 2.6 percent below its peak in May 2006. Year-to-date, the overall index has declined 0.8 percent, the second consecutive December-to-February decline.
The February level for the combined freight and passenger index was 0.2 percent lower than the February 2006 level, the second consecutive decline from February of the previous year. However, the February 2007 level was 6.5 percent higher than the February level of the base 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. The baseline year for the index is 2000.
