Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) Rose 0.2% in June from May

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Dave Smallen
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Wednesday, August 11, 2010 - The Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) rose 0.2 percent in June from its May level, rising after one monthly decline, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today (Table 1).

BTS, a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported that the Freight TSI has risen 4.7 percent over the last 13 months, starting in June 2009, after declining 15.3 percent in the previous 10 months beginning in August 2008. The index has increased in 10 of the last 13 months (Table 2). Through the first six months of 2010, the index declined 1.6 percent. The decline resulted from a 3.1 percent decrease in March following an upward revision of February numbers and the 0.4 percent decrease in May coupled with increases in January, February, April and June (Table 3). For additional historic data, go to http://www.bts.gov/xml/tsi/src/index.xml.

The Freight TSI measures the month-to-month changes in freight shipments in ton-miles, which are then combined into one index. The index measures the output of the for-hire freight transportation industry and consists of data from for-hire trucking, rail, inland waterways, pipelines and air freight.

The June Freight TSI of 97.9 is a 4.7 percent increase from the recent low of 93.5 reached in May 2009. In May 2009, the index was at its lowest level since June 1997. The June Freight TSI is down 13.3 percent from its historic peak of 112.9 reached in May 2006.

Although the index rose 4.1 percent from June 2009 to June 2010, it remains below the level of every other June since 1997 when it was 92.4 (Table 4). January 2010 was the first month since July 2008 in which the Freight TSI exceeded the level of the previous year. The index has exceeded the previous year's level every month since January but still remains below the level of recent earlier years.

The freight index is down 11.8 percent in the five years from June 2005. The index is down 2.3 percent in the 10 years from June 2000 (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 July index is scheduled for Sept. 9.

For a video explanation of the TSI, see Overview of the Transportation Services Index. A BTS report explaining the TSI, Transportation Services Index and the Economy, is available for download.

Transportation Services Index for Passengers

The TSI for passengers fell 0.1 percent in June from its May level (Table 6). The Passenger TSI June 2010 level of 111.2 was 1.8 percent above the June 2009 level after a 7.0 percent decline from June 2008 to June 2009 (Table 7). The index is up 2.1 percent in five years and up 11.1 percent in 10 years (Table 5).

The passenger TSI measures the month-to-month changes in travel conducted in the for-hire passenger transportation sector. 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 rose 0.2 percent in June from its May level (Table 8). The combined TSI June 2010 level of 100.8 was 3.5 percent higher than the June 2009 level (Table 9). The combined index is down 8.5 percent in five years, but is up 0.7 percent in 10 years despite recent declines (Table 5). The combined TSI merges the freight and passenger indexes into a single index.

2nd Quarter Changes

The Freight TSI rose 0.1 percent in the second quarter, the third quarterly increase in the past four quarters (Table 10). The Passenger TSI rose 1.6 percent in the second quarter, reversing two consecutive quarterly declines (Table 11). The combined TSI rose 0.5 percent in the second quarter, rising after one quarterly decline (Table 12).

More on TSI

NOTE: TSI numbers for February (Freight, Passenger and Combined) were revised because of revisions in the output data of the component transportation services. The February Freight TSI is 100.9, revised from the 96.9 reported in last month's release. The February Passenger TSI is 108.2, revised from 107.8. The February Combined TSI is 102.4, revised from 99.3. The TSI for March, April, May and June 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, is available at http://www.bts.gov/xml/tsi/src/index.xml.

More information about the comprehensive revision conducted with the July release is provided under 2009 Comprehensive Revision at http://www.bts.gov/xml/tsi/src/index.xml.