Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI): Freight
Index Fell 1.2 Percent in April from March
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BTS 28-09
Dave Smallen
202-366-5568 |
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Wednesday, June 10, 2009
- The Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) fell 1.2 percent in April from
its March level, declining for the second consecutive month to the lowest level
in seven years, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of
Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today (Table 1).
The April decrease
was the seventh decline in the Freight TSI in the last nine months (Table 2). The
index has declined 10.0 percent in that nine-month period. For additional historical data, go to http://www.bts.gov/xml/tsi/src/index.xml.
The 1.2 percent
decline in the first four months of 2009 was the second largest in the last
decade, exceeded only by a 6.7 percent decline for the first four months of
2000 (Table 3).
The April level
of the Freight TSI of 100.2 is at the lowest level since April 2002 when it was
99.3. The Freight TSI is down 11.4 percent from its historic peak of 113.1
reached in November 2005.
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
8.5 percent decline in the Freight TSI from April 2008 to April 2009 was the
largest April-to-April decline in the 20 years for which the TSI is calculated (Table
4).
The freight
index is also down 9.4 percent in the five years from April 2004, the fifth
consecutive month in which the index declined for a five-year period. The index is down 1.7 percent in 10 years for
the second-ever 10-year decline in the 20-year history of TSI data (Table 5). The first 10-year decline was in March.
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 May index is scheduled for July 9.
BTS has issued
a 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 rose 1.4 percent
in April from its March level (Table 6). The Passenger TSI April 2009 level of 113.2 was 4.2 percent lower than
the April 2008 level, the second largest April-to-April decrease in the 20-year
history of the series, and exceeded only by a 7.4 percent decrease in 2002 (Table
7). Despite the recent declines, the passenger index is up 10.1 percent in five
years and 21.0 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 fell 0.5 percent in April from its March level (Table
8). The combined TSI April 2009 level of 103.0 was 7.4 percent lower than the April
2008 level, leaving the index at its lowest April level since 2003 (Table 9). The
combined index is down 4.8 percent in five years for the third five-year
decline in the history of the combined index, but is up 3.8 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 December (Freight, Passenger and Combined)
were revised because of revisions in the output data of the component
transportation services. The December Freight TSI is 101.4, revised from the 105.1 reported in last month’s release. The December
Passenger TSI is 112.0, revised from 113.0.
The December Combined TSI is 103.6, revised from 106.7. The TSI for January, February, March and April 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 October 2008
Percent Change by
Month
(Seasonally Adjusted,
Monthly Average of 2000 = 100)
Excel | CSV
October |
106.7 |
-0.3 |
114.9 |
-1.2 |
108.3 |
-0.5 |
November |
104.4 |
-2.1 |
112.5 |
-2.1 |
106.0 |
-2.1 |
DecemberR |
101.4 |
-2.8 |
112.0 |
-0.5 |
103.6 |
-2.2 |
JanuaryP |
102.7 |
1.3 |
112.6 |
0.6 |
104.8 |
1.2 |
FebruaryP |
104.8 |
2.0 |
112.8 |
0.1 |
106.4 |
1.5 |
MarchP |
101.4 |
-3.3 |
111.6 |
-1.0 |
103.5 |
-2.7 |
AprilP |
100.2 |
-1.2 |
113.2 |
1.4 |
103.0 |
-0.5 |
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, 2006-2009
Percent change from
previous month
Excel | CSV
January |
0.4 |
-0.3 |
2.8 |
(P) 1.3 |
February |
-1.4 |
0.0 |
0.1 |
(P) 2.0 |
March |
0.4 |
1.1 |
-2.9 |
(P) -3.3 |
April |
-0.3 |
-0.4 |
1.1 |
(P) -1.2 |
May |
2.4 |
-0.1 |
0.4 |
|
June |
-0.3 |
-0.7 |
-0.2 |
|
July |
-0.9 |
0.1 |
1.4 |
|
August |
-2.5 |
0.5 |
-2.3 |
|
September |
0.9 |
-0.9 |
-1.6 |
|
October |
-0.1 |
1.7 |
-0.3 |
|
November |
-1.4 |
0.4 |
-2.1 |
|
December |
0.6 |
-1.7 |
(R) -2.8 |
|
SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics
NOTE: P = preliminary; R =
revised
Table 3: Freight, Passenger and Combined Transportation
Services Indexes Year-to-Date Change, 2000-2009
Percent change from December of previous year
December to April
Excel | CSV
2000 |
-6.7 |
3.9 |
-3.5 |
2001 |
0.8 |
-0.2 |
0.4 |
2002 |
2.0 |
2.2 |
2.1 |
2003 |
-0.7 |
-6.8 |
-2.4 |
2004 |
2.3 |
2.3 |
2.3 |
2005 |
0.6 |
1.8 |
0.9 |
2006 |
-0.8 |
2.6 |
0.0 |
2007 |
0.4 |
0.4 |
0.4 |
2008 |
1.0 |
0.8 |
1.0 |
2009P |
-1.2 |
1.1 |
-0.6 |
SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics
NOTE: P = preliminary
Table 4: Freight
Transportation Services Index from Year-to-Year
Percent change in the April
Freight TSI
(Monthly average of
2000 = 100)
Excel | CSV
2000 |
98.0 |
-3.9 |
2001 |
98.6 |
0.6 |
2002 |
99.3 |
0.6 |
2003 |
103.8 |
4.6 |
2004 |
110.5 |
6.5 |
2005 |
111.7 |
1.0 |
2006 |
110.4 |
-1.2 |
2007 |
109.3 |
-0.9 |
2008 |
109.5 |
0.1 |
2009P |
100.2 |
-8.5 |
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 2009 (April to April)
Excel | CSV
2008 |
1 |
-8.5 |
-4.2 |
-7.4 |
2007 |
2 |
-8.4 |
-1.3 |
-6.6 |
2006 |
3 |
-9.2 |
1.4 |
-6.7 |
2005 |
4 |
-10.3 |
4.6 |
-6.8 |
2004 |
5 |
-9.4 |
10.1 |
-4.8 |
2003 |
6 |
-3.5 |
24.4 |
3.0 |
2002 |
7 |
0.9 |
21.4 |
5.7 |
2001 |
8 |
1.6 |
12.4 |
3.7 |
2000 |
9 |
2.2 |
14.4 |
4.8 |
1999 |
10 |
-1.7 |
21.0 |
3.8 |
SOURCE: Bureau of
Transportation Statistics
NOTE: The percent changes to April 2009 are all
preliminary.
Table 6: Passenger
Transportation Services Index Monthly Changes, 2006-2009
Percent change from
previous month
Excel | CSV
January |
1.9 |
-0.1 |
-0.1 |
(P) 0.6 |
February |
-0.6 |
-2.0 |
-0.5 |
(P) 0.1 |
March |
1.0 |
2.2 |
0.8 |
(P) -1.0 |
May |
0.6 |
1.5 |
0.1 |
|
June |
-1.0 |
-0.2 |
-0.1 |
|
July |
0.5 |
-0.1 |
0.0 |
|
August |
0.0 |
1.1 |
-1.3 |
|
September |
0.9 |
-0.1 |
-0.4 |
|
October |
0.4 |
0.7 |
-1.2 |
|
November |
-0.2 |
-1.5 |
-2.1 |
|
December |
1.1 |
0.7 |
(R) -0.5 |
|
SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics
NOTE: P = preliminary; R =
revised
Table 7: Passenger
Transportation Services Index from Year-to-Year
Percent change in the April
Passenger TSI
(Monthly average of
2000 = 100)
Excel | CSV
2000 |
99.0 |
5.7 |
2001 |
100.7 |
1.7 |
2002 |
93.3 |
-7.4 |
2003 |
91.0 |
-2.4 |
2004 |
102.8 |
13.0 |
2005 |
108.3 |
5.3 |
2006 |
111.6 |
3.1 |
2007 |
114.7 |
2.8 |
2008 |
118.2 |
3.1 |
2009P |
113.2 |
-4.2 |
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, 2006-2009
Percent change from
previous month
Excel | CSV
January |
0.8 |
-0.3 |
2.1 |
(P) 1.2 |
February |
-1.2 |
-0.5 |
-0.1 |
(P) 1.5 |
March |
0.6 |
1.4 |
-2.0 |
(P) -2.7 |
April |
-0.1 |
-0.2 |
1.0 |
(P) -0.5 |
May |
2.0 |
0.3 |
0.3 |
|
June |
-0.4 |
-0.6 |
-0.1 |
|
July |
-0.6 |
0.0 |
1.0 |
|
August |
-1.9 |
0.7 |
-2.0 |
|
September |
0.9 |
-0.7 |
-1.3 |
|
October |
0.1 |
1.4 |
-0.5 |
|
November |
-1.1 |
-0.1 |
-2.1 |
|
December |
0.7 |
-1.1 |
(R) -2.2 |
|
SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics
NOTE: P = preliminary; R =
revised
Table 9: Combined Transportation
Services Index from Year-to-Year
Percent change in the April
Combined TSI
(Monthly average of
2000 = 100)
Excel | CSV
2000 |
98.3 |
-0.9 |
2001 |
99.3 |
1.0 |
2002 |
97.4 |
-1.9 |
2003 |
100.0 |
2.7 |
2004 |
108.2 |
8.2 |
2005 |
110.5 |
2.2 |
2006 |
110.4 |
-0.1 |
2007 |
110.3 |
-0.1 |
2008 |
111.2 |
0.8 |
2009P |
103.0 |
-7.4 |
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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