The Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) fell 0.7 percent in June from its May level, falling to its lowest level since February after a one-month rise, according to the Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).
The June decline was the largest monthly decrease since November 2006. The freight TSI is down 3.7 percent from its peak of 113.1 achieved in November 2005 but up 0.6 percent from its recent low of 108.3 in November 2006.
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.
For the first six months of 2007, the freight TSI was virtually unchanged. It was the first time since 2003 that the freight TSI failed to increase during the first half of the year and only the third time in 10 years.
The June freight TSI of 108.9 was down 3.4 percent from its June 2006 level, the largest June-to-June decline in the 17 years of the index.
The June index is at its lowest June level since June 2003, 2.1 percent lower than the June 2005 level and 1.4 percent lower than the June 2004 level. Despite the recent declines, the freight index has increased 7.4 percent in five years and 18.1 percent in 10 years.