Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) Fell 1.4 Percent in November from October

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Dave Smallen
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Wednesday, January 14, 2009 - The Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) fell 1.4 percent in November from its October level, falling after a one-month rise, the U.S. Department of Transportations Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today (Table 1).

The November decline was the third monthly decrease in four months (Table 2).

At 107.6 in November, the freight TSI is at its lowest level since January 2004 when it was 106.5 and is down 4.9 percent from its historic peak of 113.1 reached in November 2005. For additional historical data, go to http://www.bts.gov/xml/tsi/src/index.xml.

For the first 11 months of 2008, the index fell 0.7 percent. The index rose 1.3 percent in the first 11 months of 2007 before dropping in December to finish the year down by 0.1 percent (Table 3).

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 November 2008 freight TSI level was 2.4 percent lower than the November 2007 level of 110.2. The freight index is at its lowest November level since 2003 (Table 4).

Despite a 4.9 percent decline from its historic peak in November 2005, the freight index has increased 2.2 percent in five years and 6.8 percent in 10 years (Table 5).

The TSI is a seasonally adjusted index that measures changes from the monthly average of the base year of 2000. It includes historic data from 1990 to the present. Release of the December index is scheduled for Feb. 11.

BTS has issued a new technical report explaining the TSI. BTS Technical Report: Transportation Services Index and the Economy is available for download at https://www.bts.gov/pdc/index.xml in the BTS bookstore.

Transportation Services Index for Passengers

The TSI for passengers fell 0.2 percent in November from its October level (Table 6). The Passenger TSI November 2008 level of 114.0 was 2.1 percent lower than the November 2007 level, marking the first year-to-year decrease since November 2001 (Table 7). The index declined 2.8 percent during the first 11 months (Table 3). Despite the decline in the first 11 months of the year, the passenger index is up 14.2 percent in five years and 22.2 percent in 10 years (Table 5).

The passenger TSI measures the month-to-month changes in the output of services provided by the for-hire passenger transportation industries. The seasonally adjusted index consists of data from air, local transit and intercity rail.

Combined Freight and Passenger Index

The combined freight and passenger TSI fell 1.1 percent in November from its October level (Table 8). The combined TSI November 2008 level of 108.8 was 2.3 percent lower than the November 2007 level (Table 9). The combined index fell 1.2 percent for the first 11 months of the year (Table 3). However, the combined index is up 5.0 percent in five years and 10.7 percent in 10 years (Table 5).

The combined TSI merges the freight and passenger indexes into a single index.

More on TSI

NOTE: TSI numbers for July (Freight, Passenger and Combined) were revised because of revisions in the output data of the component transportation services. The July Freight TSI is 111.3, revised from the 112.9 reported in last month (December) release. The July Passenger TSI is 118.3, revised from 116.3. The July Combined TSI is 112.6, revised from 113.4. The TSI for August, September, October and November are preliminary.

TSI revision policy: TSI is updated monthly with the latest four months index numbers considered preliminary. Each month BTS releases the latest preliminary TSI, and replaces the oldest preliminary TSI with a revised TSI. More information about the monthly revision policy, the comprehensive revision conducted in July 2007 and the TSI index is available at http://www.bts.gov/xml/tsi/src/index.xml.