Transportation Services Index Falls, DOT Says
The Department of Transportation said Wednesday that its transportation services index for June fell 0.7% from May.
June's combined TSI, which includes both freight and passenger data, declined to a reading of 110 from 110.8 in May, DOT’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics said in its monthly report.
Compared with the same month a year earlier, the combined TSI fell 1.9% while the freight index dropped 3.4%, BTS said.
The drop in the freight TSI was the largest monthly decrease since November and marks the first time since 2003 that the freight index failed to increase during the first half of the year, DOT said.
TSI is a seasonally adjusted monthly index measuring the output of services provided by the for-hire transportation industries, including railroad, air, truck, inland waterways, pipeline and local transit.
The index includes data dating back to 1990, with changes measured against the base year of 1996. DOT said the index is still under development and is considered experimental.
