Freight Transportation Services Decline

Freight transportation services declined in January for the third consecutive month, pulling the Department of Transportation’s index to its lowest level in more than five years. At 102.7 in January, the freight TSI is at its lowest level since May 2003.

The Freight Transportation Services Index fell 2.3 percent in January from its December level, the DOT’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported March 11.

After five monthly declines in six months, the index is down 7.7 percent, the largest six-month decline since an 8.4 percent decline in 1995. The 5.9 percent decline in the three-month November through January period was the largest three-month decline since April 2000.

The output of services provided by trucking, rail, inland waterways, pipelines and air freight have declined since the index hit a historic peak of 113.1 in November 2005.

The TSI is a seasonally adjusted index that measures changes from the monthly average of the base year of 2000.