Freight Transportation Services
Index (TSI) Rose 0.1 Percent in May from April
PDF
|
Contact |
BTS 32-07
Dave Smallen
202-366-5568 |
|
Wednesday, July 11, 2007 - The Freight Transportation
Services Index (TSI) rose 0.1 percent in May from its April level, rising after
a one-month decline, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of
Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today (Table 1).
The
May rise was the fourth in the last six months (Table 2). The freight TSI is down 3.0 percent from its peak of 113.1
achieved in November 2005 but up 1.3 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
year-to-date, the freight TSI rose 0.8 percent, compared to a 1.6 percent increase
during the December-to-May period in 2006 (Table 3).
The
May freight TSI of 109.7 was down 3.0 percent from its May 2006 level, the
largest May-to-May decline in the seventeen years of the index (Table 4). For
additional historical data prior to 2004, go to http://www.bts.gov/xml/tsi/src/index.xml.
The
May index is 1.8 percent lower than the May 2005 level and 0.3 percent lower
than the May 2004 level. Despite the
recent declines, the freight index has increased 8.5 percent in five years and 18.6
percent in 10 years (Table 5).
The index 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 June index is
scheduled for Aug. 8.
Transportation Services
Index for Passengers
The TSI for passengers rose 0.2
percent in May from the April level, the smallest of three consecutive monthly
increases (Table 6). The Passenger TSI May
2007 level of 115.5 was 2.9 percent higher than the May 2006 level, the fourth
consecutive annual increase since three consecutive declines from 2001 through 2003
(Table 7). Year-to-date, the passenger TSI rose 1.2 percent, the smallest of a
string of December-to-May increases that began in 2004 (Table 3). The passenger index is up 22.4 percent in
five years and 32.2 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 0.1 percent in May from the April level (Table 8). The combined TSI May
2007 level of 110.8 was 1.6 percent lower than the May 2006 level, and is the
same as the May 2005 level (Table 9).
Year-to-date, the combined TSI rose 0.9 percent and has not declined in the
December-to-May period since 2003 (Table 3). The combined index is up 11.8 percent
in five years and 22.0 percent in 10 years (Table 5).
The combined TSI
merges the freight and passenger indexes into a single seasonally adjusted
index of the month-to-month changes in the output of services provided by the
for-hire transportation industries.
More on TSI
In this month's release, BTS conducted its second comprehensive revision to the
TSI in which all index numbers through April 2007 were revised to reflect
revisions to the source data and changes in the estimated seasonal factors and
the method for calculating aggregation weights. More information about the
comprehensive revision and its effects on index numbers is provided under 2007
Comprehensive Revision at http://www.bts.gov/xml/tsi/src/index.xml.
TSI
monthly 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 2007 comprehensive revision, the monthly
revision policy and the TSI index is available at http://www.bts.gov/xml/tsi/src/index.xml.
Following this policy, the TSI for February, March, April, and May are
preliminary.
Table 1: Freight,
Passenger and Combined Transportation Services Indexes Since November 2006
Percent Change by
Month
(Seasonally Adjusted,
Monthly Average of 2000 = 100)
Excel | CSV
November |
108.3 |
-1.4 |
113.0 |
-0.2 |
109.1 |
-1.1 |
December |
108.9 |
0.6 |
114.2 |
1.1 |
109.8 |
0.7 |
JanuaryR |
108.5 |
-0.3 |
114.0 |
-0.1 |
109.5 |
-0.3 |
FebruaryP |
108.6 |
0.0 |
113.4 |
-0.5 |
109.4 |
-0.1 |
MarchP |
109.7 |
1.1 |
114.6 |
1.1 |
110.6 |
1.1 |
AprilP |
109.6 |
-0.1 |
115.4 |
0.7 |
110.7 |
0.1 |
MayP |
109.7 |
0.1 |
115.5 |
0.2 |
110.8 |
0.1 |
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, 2004-2007
Percent change from
previous month
Excel | CSV
January |
-1.5 |
1.7 |
0.4 |
(R) -0.3 |
February |
3.0 |
-0.9 |
-1.4 |
(P) 0.0 |
March |
0.2 |
0.1 |
0.4 |
(P) 1.1 |
April |
0.7 |
-0.3 |
-0.3 |
(P) -0.1 |
May |
-0.4 |
0.0 |
2.4 |
(P) 0.1 |
June |
0.3 |
-0.4 |
-0.3 |
|
July |
-0.2 |
-0.5 |
-0.9 |
|
August |
-0.4 |
1.0 |
-2.5 |
|
September |
0.2 |
-1.3 |
0.9 |
|
October |
0.2 |
-0.3 |
-0.1 |
|
November |
1.2 |
2.8 |
-1.4 |
|
December |
-0.4 |
-1.7 |
0.6 |
|
SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics
NOTE: P = preliminary; R =
revised
Table 3: Freight, Passenger and Combined Transportation
Services Indexes Year-to Date Change, 1998-2007
Percent change from December of previous year
December to May
Excel | CSV
1998 |
3.8 |
1.4 |
3.1 |
1999 |
2.5 |
-0.6 |
1.5 |
2000 |
-5.3 |
5.9 |
-2.0 |
2001 |
2.3 |
-0.3 |
1.4 |
2002 |
3.9 |
3.4 |
3.8 |
2003 |
-2.0 |
-5.6 |
-3.0 |
2004 |
1.8 |
2.0 |
1.9 |
2005 |
0.6 |
2.6 |
1.2 |
2006 |
1.6 |
3.2 |
2.0 |
2007P |
0.8 |
1.2 |
0.9 |
SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics
NOTE: P = preliminary
Table 4: Freight
Transportation Services Index from Year-to-Year
Percent change in the May Freight
TSI
(Monthly average of
2000 = 100)
Excel | CSV
1998 |
100.5 |
8.7 |
1999 |
102.4 |
1.9 |
2000 |
99.4 |
-2.9 |
2001 |
100.1 |
0.7 |
2002 |
101.1 |
1.1 |
2003 |
102.5 |
1.4 |
2004 |
110.1 |
7.4 |
2005 |
111.7 |
1.5 |
2006 |
113.0 |
1.2 |
2007P |
109.7 |
-3.0 |
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 2007
(May to May)
Excel | CSV
2006 |
1 |
-3.0 |
2.9 |
-1.6 |
2005 |
2 |
-1.8 |
5.9 |
0.0 |
2004 |
3 |
-0.3 |
12.7 |
2.8 |
2003 |
4 |
7.0 |
25.4 |
11.4 |
2002 |
5 |
8.5 |
22.4 |
11.8 |
2001 |
6 |
9.6 |
14.8 |
10.5 |
2000 |
7 |
10.4 |
14.6 |
10.9 |
1999 |
8 |
7.1 |
24.2 |
11.5 |
1998 |
9 |
9.1 |
26.7 |
13.6 |
1997 |
10 |
18.6 |
32.2 |
22.0 |
SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation
Statistics
NOTE: The percent changes to May 2007 are all
preliminary.
Table 6: Passenger
Transportation Services Index Monthly Changes, 2004-2007
Percent change from
previous month
Excel | CSV
January |
-1.2 |
1.4 |
1.9 |
(R) -0.1 |
February |
1.8 |
-0.1 |
-0.6 |
(P) -0.5 |
March |
1.1 |
0.5 |
1.0 |
(P) 1.1 |
April |
0.7 |
0.0 |
0.3 |
(P) 0.7 |
May |
-0.3 |
0.8 |
0.6 |
(P) 0.2 |
June |
1.6 |
0.1 |
-1.0 |
|
July |
0.2 |
0.1 |
0.5 |
|
August |
0.9 |
0.2 |
0.0 |
|
September |
-0.2 |
1.4 |
0.9 |
|
October |
2.2 |
-1.9 |
0.4 |
|
November |
-0.9 |
0.7 |
-0.2 |
|
December |
-0.1 |
-0.9 |
1.1 |
|
SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics
NOTE: P = preliminary; R =
revised
Table 7: Passenger
Transportation Services Index from Year-to-Year
Percent change in the May
Passenger TSI
(Monthly average of
2000 = 100)
Excel | CSV
1998 |
91.2 |
4.3 |
1999 |
93.0 |
2.0 |
2000 |
100.9 |
8.5 |
2001 |
100.6 |
-0.2 |
2002 |
94.4 |
-6.2 |
2003 |
92.2 |
-2.4 |
2004 |
102.5 |
11.2 |
2005 |
109.2 |
6.5 |
2006 |
112.3 |
2.8 |
2007P |
115.5 |
2.9 |
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, 2004-2007
Percent change from
previous month
Excel | CSV
January |
-1.4 |
1.6 |
0.8 |
(R) -0.3 |
February |
2.6 |
-0.7 |
-1.2 |
(P) -0.1 |
March |
0.4 |
0.2 |
0.6 |
(P) 1.1 |
April |
0.7 |
-0.2 |
-0.1 |
(P) 0.1 |
May |
-0.4 |
0.2 |
2.0 |
(P) 0.1 |
June |
0.7 |
-0.3 |
-0.4 |
|
July |
-0.1 |
-0.3 |
-0.6 |
|
August |
-0.1 |
0.8 |
-1.9 |
|
September |
0.1 |
-0.6 |
0.9 |
|
October |
0.7 |
-0.7 |
0.1 |
|
November |
0.6 |
2.3 |
-1.1 |
|
December |
-0.3 |
-1.5 |
0.7 |
|
SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics
NOTE: P = preliminary; R =
revised
Table 9: Combined Transportation
Services Index from Year-to-Year
Percent change in the May
TSI
(Monthly average of
2000 = 100)
Excel | CSV
1998 |
97.5 |
7.3 |
1999 |
99.3 |
1.9 |
2000 |
99.9 |
0.5 |
2001 |
100.3 |
0.4 |
2002 |
99.1 |
-1.2 |
2003 |
99.4 |
0.3 |
2004 |
107.8 |
8.4 |
2005 |
110.8 |
2.8 |
2006 |
112.6 |
1.6 |
2007P |
110.8 |
-1.6 |
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
TSI is still under development and is therefore considered experimental. It is
being examined for refinements in data sources, methodologies and
interpretations.
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.
|