Freight Transportation Services Index
(TSI) Rose 1.2 Percent in July from June
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BTS 43-08
Dave Smallen
202-366-5568 |
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Wednesday, September 10, 2008
- The Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) rose 1.2 percent in July from
its June level, rising for the fourth consecutive month, the U.S. Department of
Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today (Table 2).
For the first seven
months of 2008, the freight index advanced 4.2 percent, its largest increase
for the first seven months of the year since 2002. In 2007, the index dropped
0.4 percent in the first seven months of the year (Table 3).
The freight
index has increased in six of the first seven months this year, declining only
in March (Table 1). The April index,
previously reported as unchanged from March, now shows a 1 percent rise as a
result of this month’s downward revision of the March index described
below. At 112.9 in July, the freight TSI
was up 4.5 percent since its recent low of 108.0 in September 2007 and almost
reached its historic peak of 113.1 reached in November 2005. For additional
historical data, go to http://www.bts.gov/xml/tsi/src/index.xml.
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
July 2008 freight TSI level was 4.1 percent above the July 2007 level of 108.4,
the largest July-to-July gain since 2004 (Table 4).
Despite the modest
gains since 2004, the freight index has increased 8.5 percent in five years and
11.6 percent in 10 years (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 August index is scheduled for Oct. 8.
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 TSI for passengers fell 0.5 percent
in July from its June level (Table 6). The Passenger TSI July 2008 level of 116.3 was 0.1 percent higher than
the July 2007 level, marking six consecutive annual increases, though the
smallest increase, since July 2002 (Table 7). The passenger index declined for
the first seven months of the year for the first time since 2003 (Table
3). However, the passenger index is up 19.7
percent in five years and 29.8 percent in 10 years (Table 5).
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
TSI rose 0.8 percent in July from its June level (Table 8). The combined TSI July
2008 level of 113.4 was 3.1 percent higher than the July 2007 level, reversing
the 1.3 percent drop from July 2006 to July 2007 and exceeding the July 2005
level (Table 9). The combined index rose for the first seven months of the year
for the fifth consecutive year (Table 3). The combined index is up 11.3 percent
in five years and 16.4 percent in 10 years (Table 5).
The combined TSI
merges the freight and passenger indexes into a single index.
More on TSI
NOTE: TSI numbers for March (Freight, Passenger and Combined)
were revised because of revisions in the output data of the component
transportation services. The March Freight TSI is 108.3, revised from the 109.4
reported in the August release. The March Passenger TSI is 117.4, revised from 116.2.
The March Combined TSI is 110.1, revised from 110.7. The TSI for April, May,
June and July 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
comprehensive revision conducted in July 2007 and the TSI index is available at http://www.bts.gov/xml/tsi/src/index.xml
Table 1: Freight,
Passenger and Combined Transportation Services Indexes since January 2008
Percent Change by Month
(Seasonally Adjusted,
Monthly Average of 2000 = 100)
Excel | CSV
January |
111.4 |
2.8 |
117.1 |
-0.1 |
112.5 |
2.1 |
February |
111.5 |
0.1 |
116.5 |
-0.5 |
112.4 |
-0.1 |
MarchR |
108.3 |
-2.9 |
117.4 |
0.8 |
110.1 |
-2.0 |
AprilP |
109.4 |
1.0 |
116.2 |
-1.0 |
110.7 |
0.5 |
MayP |
111.4 |
1.9 |
116.9 |
0.6 |
112.4 |
1.6 |
JuneP |
111.5 |
0.1 |
116.9 |
0.0 |
112.5 |
0.0 |
JulyP |
112.9 |
1.2 |
116.3 |
-0.5 |
113.4 |
0.8 |
SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics
NOTE: P = preliminary; R =
revised
NOTE: Percent changes based
on numbers prior to rounding.
Table 2: Freight
Transportation Services Index Monthly Changes, 2005-2008
Percent change from
previous month
Excel | CSV
January |
1.7 |
0.4 |
-0.3 |
2.8 |
February |
-0.9 |
-1.4 |
0.0 |
0.1 |
March |
0.1 |
0.4 |
1.1 |
(R) -2.9 |
April |
-0.3 |
-0.3 |
-0.4 |
(P) 1.0 |
May |
0.0 |
2.4 |
-0.1 |
(P) 1.9 |
June |
-0.4 |
-0.3 |
-0.7 |
(P) 0.1 |
July |
-0.5 |
-0.9 |
0.1 |
(P) 1.2 |
August |
1.0 |
-2.5 |
0.5 |
|
September |
-1.3 |
0.9 |
-0.9 |
|
October |
-0.3 |
-0.1 |
1.7 |
|
November |
2.8 |
-1.4 |
0.4 |
|
December |
-1.7 |
0.6 |
-1.7 |
|
SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics
NOTE: P = preliminary; R =
revised
Table 3: Freight, Passenger and Combined Transportation
Services Indexes Year-to-Date Change, 1999-2008
Percent change from December of previous year
December to July
Excel | CSV
1999 |
2.1 |
2.3 |
2.1 |
2000 |
-6.0 |
5.4 |
-2.6 |
2001 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
2002 |
5.9 |
3.1 |
5.1 |
2003 |
-0.6 |
-0.5 |
-0.6 |
2004 |
2.0 |
3.9 |
2.5 |
2005 |
-0.3 |
2.8 |
0.5 |
2006 |
0.4 |
2.7 |
1.0 |
2007 |
-0.4 |
1.7 |
0.1 |
2008P |
4.2 |
-0.8 |
2.9 |
SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics
NOTE: P = preliminary
Table 4: Freight
Transportation Services Index from Year-to-Year
Percent change in the
July Freight
TSI
(Monthly average of
2000 = 100)
Excel | CSV
1999 |
102.0 |
0.8 |
2000 |
98.7 |
-3.2 |
2001 |
98.4 |
-0.3 |
2002 |
103.0 |
4.7 |
2003 |
104.0 |
1.0 |
2004 |
110.2 |
5.9 |
2005 |
110.7 |
0.5 |
2006 |
111.7 |
0.9 |
2007 |
108.4 |
-3.0 |
2008P |
112.9 |
4.1 |
SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics
NOTE: P = preliminary
NOTE: Percent changes based
on numbers prior to rounding.
Table 5:
Transportation Services Indexes from Previous Years
Percent Change to 2008 (July to July)
Excel | CSV
2007 |
1 |
4.1 |
0.1 |
3.1 |
2006 |
2 |
1.0 |
4.1 |
1.8 |
2005 |
3 |
2.0 |
6.4 |
3.0 |
2004 |
4 |
2.5 |
11.5 |
4.6 |
2003 |
5 |
8.5 |
19.7 |
11.3 |
2002 |
6 |
9.6 |
23.5 |
13.0 |
2001 |
7 |
14.8 |
14.7 |
14.2 |
2000 |
8 |
14.4 |
15.9 |
14.3 |
1999 |
9 |
10.7 |
21.5 |
13.5 |
1998 |
10 |
11.6 |
29.8 |
16.4 |
SOURCE: Bureau of
Transportation Statistics
NOTE: The percent changes to July 2008 are all
preliminary.
Table 6: Passenger
Transportation Services Index Monthly Changes, 2005-2008
Percent change from
previous month
Excel | CSV
January |
1.4 |
1.9 |
-0.1 |
-0.1 |
February |
-0.1 |
-0.6 |
-2.0 |
-0.5 |
March |
0.5 |
1.0 |
2.2 |
(R) 0.8 |
April |
0.0 |
0.3 |
0.5 |
(P) -1.0 |
May |
0.8 |
0.6 |
1.5 |
(P) 0.6 |
June |
0.1 |
-1.0 |
-0.2 |
(P) 0.0 |
July |
0.1 |
0.5 |
-0.1 |
(P) -0.5 |
August |
0.2 |
0.0 |
1.1 |
|
September |
1.4 |
0.9 |
-0.1 |
|
October |
-1.9 |
0.4 |
0.7 |
|
November |
0.7 |
-0.2 |
-1.5 |
|
December |
-0.9 |
1.1 |
0.7 |
|
SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics
NOTE: P = preliminary; R =
revised
Table 7: Passenger
Transportation Services Index from Year-to-Year
Percent change in the July Passenger
TSI
(Monthly average of
2000 = 100)
Excel | CSV
1999 |
95.7 |
6.8 |
2000 |
100.4 |
4.9 |
2001 |
101.4 |
1.0 |
2002 |
94.1 |
-7.2 |
2003 |
97.2 |
3.2 |
2004 |
104.3 |
7.3 |
2005 |
109.3 |
4.8 |
2006 |
111.7 |
2.2 |
2007 |
116.2 |
4.0 |
2008P |
116.3 |
0.1 |
SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics
NOTE: P = preliminary
NOTE: Percent changes based
on numbers prior to rounding.
Table 8: Combined Transportation
Services Index Monthly Changes, 2005-2008
Percent change from
previous month
Excel | CSV
January |
1.6 |
0.8 |
-0.3 |
2.1 |
February |
-0.7 |
-1.2 |
-0.5 |
-0.1 |
March |
0.2 |
0.6 |
1.4 |
(R) -2.0 |
April |
-0.2 |
-0.1 |
-0.2 |
(P) 0.5 |
May |
0.2 |
2.0 |
0.3 |
(P) 1.6 |
June |
-0.3 |
-0.4 |
-0.6 |
(P) 0.0 |
July |
-0.3 |
-0.6 |
0.0 |
(P) 0.8 |
August |
0.8 |
-1.9 |
0.7 |
|
September |
-0.6 |
0.9 |
-0.7 |
|
October |
-0.7 |
0.1 |
1.4 |
|
November |
2.3 |
-1.1 |
-0.1 |
|
December |
-1.5 |
0.7 |
-1.1 |
|
SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics
NOTE: P = preliminary; R =
revised
Table 9: Combined Transportation
Services Index from Year-to-Year
Percent change in the July TSI
(Monthly average of
2000 = 100)
Excel | CSV
1999 |
99.9 |
2.6 |
2000 |
99.2 |
-0.7 |
2001 |
99.3 |
0.1 |
2002 |
100.3 |
1.0 |
2003 |
101.9 |
1.6 |
2004 |
108.4 |
6.3 |
2005 |
110.1 |
1.6 |
2006 |
111.4 |
1.2 |
2007 |
109.9 |
-1.3 |
2008P |
113.4 |
3.1 |
SOURCE: Bureau of
Transportation Statistics
NOTE: P = preliminary
NOTE: Percent changes based
on numbers prior to rounding.
Brief Explanation
of the TSI
The
Transportation Services Index (TSI) is a measure of the month-to-month changes
in the output of services provided by the for-hire transportation industries.
The
TSI tells us how the output of transportation services has increased or
decreased from month to month. The index can be examined together with other
economic indicators to produce a better understanding of the current and future
course of the economy. The movement of
the index over time can be compared with other economic measures to understand
the relationship of changes in transportation output to changes in Gross
Domestic Product (GDP).
The freight transportation index consists of:
For-hire
trucking,
Railroad
freight services
(including rail based intermodal shipments such as containers on flat cars),
Inland
waterways transportation,
Pipeline
transportation (including principally petroleum and petroleum products and
natural gas), and
Air
freight.
The
index does not include international or coastal waterborne movements, private
trucking, courier services, or the US Postal Service.
The passenger transportation index consists of:
Local
transit,
Intercity
passenger rail, and
Passenger
air transportation.
The
index does not include intercity bus, sight seeing services, ferry services,
taxi service, private automobile usage, or bicycling and other non-motorized
transportation.
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