The Freight Transportation Services Index fell 0.1 percent in April to 108.9 from its March level of 109.1, falling after a one-month rise, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported today, June 13. The April decline was the fourth in the last seven months. The Freight TSI is down 3.5 percent from its peak of 112.8 first achieved in January 2005, but up 1.8 percent from its recent low of 107.1 in November 2006.
For the year-to-date, the Freight TSI has climbed 1.2 percent, compared to a 1.2 percent drop during the December-to-April period in 2006. The April Freight TSI was down 0.6 percent from its April 2006 level and down 3.2 percent from its April 2005 level. Despite the recent declines, the freight index has increased 9.5 percent in five years and 17.8 percent in 10 years.
The Freight TSI measures the month-to-month changes in the output of services provided by the for-hire freight transportation industries. The index consists of data from for-hire trucking, rail, inland waterways, pipelines and air freight. The seasonally adjusted index, which includes historic data from 1990 to the present, measures changes from the monthly average of the base year of 2000.
The Combined Freight and Passenger TSI was flat between April and March, following a one-month rise. The Combined TSI April 2007 level of 111.0 was 0.5 percent higher than the April 2006 level, but failed to regain its April 2005 level after last year’s decline. Year-to-date, the Combined TSI is up 1.3 percent and has not declined in the December-to-April period since 2003. The combined index is up 13.7 percent in five years and 21.9 percent in 10 years.
