BTS Releases Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI)
By admin - Posted on February 15th, 2008
Freight Index Fell 1.3 Percent in December from November
Wednesday, February 13, 2008 -- The Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) fell 1.3 percent in December from its November level, turning down after two monthly increases in the largest monthly decline since November 2006, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today.
The December decline dropped the freight index into negative territory in 2007, declining 0.1 percent for the year. Increases in October and November turned the index positive after being down for the first nine months of the year through September).
The 0.1 percent decline in 2007 was the second consecutive annual decline. In 2006, the index declined 2.2 percent .
The December decline was the first after the index rose a combined 1.9 percent in the previous two months. At 108.8, the freight TSI is down 3.8 percent from its peak of 113.1 achieved in November 2005 and up 0.7 percent in the two months from its recent low of 108.1 in September 2007.
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 December freight TSI of 108.8 was 0.1 percent lower than the December 2006 level and remains 2.2 percent below the December 2005 level and 2.0 percent lower than the December 2004 level.
Despite declines from recent December levels, the freight index has increased 4.0 percent in five years and 12.4 percent in 10 years.
The TSI is an index of the month-to-month changes in the output of services provided by for-hire transportation industries. It includes historic data from 1990 to the present. The TSI is still under development and is considered experimental. The seasonally adjusted index measures changes from the monthly average of the base year of 2000. Release of the January index is scheduled for March 12.
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 passenger index rose 2.5 percent during 2007, the sixth consecutive annual increase since 2001. The TSI for passengers rose 1.8 percent in December from its November level, rising after three monthly declines. The Passenger TSI December 2007 level of 117.1 was 2.5 percent higher than the December 2006 level. The passenger index is up 19.9 percent in five years and 30.2 percent in 10 years.
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 index rose 0.6 percent during 2007 (Table 3). The combined TSI fell 0.5 percent in December from its November level, falling after two monthly increases. The combined TSI December 2007 level of 110.5 was 0.6 percent higher than the December 2006 level. The combined index is up 7.8 percent in five years and 16.8 percent in 10 years.
The combined TSI merges the freight and passenger indexes into a single index.
More on TSI
Note: TSI numbers for August (Freight, Passenger and Combined) were revised because of revisions in the output data of the component transportation services. The August Freight TSI is 109.0, revised from the 108.9 reported in the January release. The August Passenger TSI is 117.4, revised from 115.1. The August Combined TSI is 110.7, revised from 110.1. The TSI for September, October, November and December 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 2007 comprehensive revision conducted with the July release and the TSI index is available at http://www.bts.gov/xml/tsi/src/index.xml.
Source: DOT
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