BTS Releases Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI);

BTS 56-07
Contact: Dave Smallen, Tel.: (202) 366-5568
Wednesday, December 12, 2007

BTS Releases Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI);
Freight Index Rose 1.3 Percent in October from September

The Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) rose 1.3 percent in October from its September level, rising after a one-month decline that brought the index to its lowest level since January 2004, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today (Table 1).

The October rise was the largest monthly increase since May 2006 (Table 2). At 109.5, the freight TSI is down 3.2 percent from its peak of 113.1 achieved 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 October increase pushed the freight index into positive territory for the year after having been down for the first nine months. For the first 10 months of 2007, the freight TSI was up 0.6 percent. In 2005 and 2006, the index declined during the 10-month period (Table 3).

The October freight TSI of 109.5 was down 0.3 percent from its October 2006 level, the second consecutive October-to-October decline, and the largest October-to- October decline since 2000 (Table 4).

The October index is at its lowest October level since October 2003, 0.6 percent lower than the October 2004 level and 0.5 percent lower than the October 2005 level. Despite the recent declines, the freight index has increased 5.8 percent in five years and 13.1 percent in 10 years (Table 5).

The TSI is an index of the month-to-month changes in the output of services provided by for-hire transportation industries. It 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 November index is scheduled for Jan. 9, 2008.

Transportation Services Index for Passengers

The TSI for passengers fell 1.0 percent in October from its September level, falling after two consecutive monthly increases (Table 6). The Passenger TSI October 2007 level of 116.0 was 2.5 percent higher than the October 2006 level, marking six consecutive annual increases since October 2001 (Table 7). For the first 10 months of 2007, the passenger TSI rose 1.6 percent, the sixth consecutive year in which the index has increased during the first 10 months (Table 3). The passenger index is up 20.4 percent in five years and 31.2 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 0.7 percent in October from its September level, rising after a one-month decline (Table 8). The combined TSI October 2007 level of 110.7 was 0.4 percent higher than the October 2006 level (Table 9). For the first 10 months of 2007, the combined TSI rose 0.8 percent (Table 3). The combined index is up 9.3 percent in five years and 17.7 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 June (Freight, Passenger and Combined) were revised because of revisions in the output data of the component transportation services. The June Freight TSI is 108.4, revised from the 108.9 reported in the November release. The May Passenger TSI is 116.2, revised from 114.7. The May Combined TSI is 109.9, revised from 110.0. The TSI for July, August, September and October 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 2007 comprehensive revision conducted with the July release 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 April 2007

Percent Change by Month

(Seasonally Adjusted, Monthly Average of 2000 = 100)

	Freight		Passenger		Combined
	Index	Pct. Change	Index	Pct. Change	Index	Pct. Change
April	109.3	-0.4	114.7	0.5	110.3	-0.2
May	109.2	-0.1	116.5	1.5	110.6	0.3
June^R	108.4	-0.7	116.2	-0.2	109.9	-0.6
July^P	108.5	0.1	114.8	-1.2	109.7	-0.2
August^P	108.9	0.4	115.1	0.2	110.1	0.3
September^P	108.1	-0.7	117.2	1.8	109.9	-0.1
October^P	109.5	1.3	116.0	-1.0	110.7	0.7

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

	2004 % Growth	2005 % Growth	2006 % Growth	2007 % Growth
January	-1.5	1.7	0.4	-0.3
February	3.0	-0.9	-1.4	0.0
March	0.2	0.1	0.4	1.1
April	0.7	-0.3	-0.3	-0.4
May	-0.4	0.0	2.4	-0.1
June	0.3	-0.4	-0.3	(R) -0.7
July	-0.2	-0.5	-0.9	(P) 0.1
August	-0.4	1.0	-2.5	(P) 0.4
September	0.2	-1.3	0.9	(P) -0.7
October	0.2	-0.3	-0.1	(P) 1.3
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 October

Year	Freight	Passenger	Combined
1998	4.0	3.3	3.8
1999	4.2	4.9	4.4
2000	-6.0	6.9	-2.1
2001	0.8	-17.4	-4.9
2002	6.4	5.6	6.1

2003	1.5	0.6	1.2
2004	1.9	6.9	3.2
2005	-0.8	2.5	0.0
2006	-1.3	4.0	-0.1
2007^P	0.6	1.6	0.8

SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

NOTE: P = preliminary

Table 4: Freight Transportation Services Index from Year-to-Year

Percent change in the October Freight TSI

(Monthly average of 2000 = 100)

	Freight TSI	Percent change from same month previous year
1998	100.7	4.0
1999	104.1	3.4
2000	98.7	-5.1
2001	98.6	-0.1
2002	103.5	4.9
2003	106.1	2.6
2004	110.1	3.7
2005	110.1	0.0
2006	109.8	-0.2
2007^P	109.5	-0.3

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 (October to October)

Since October. . .	Duration in years	Freight TSI Percent change to October 2007	Passenger TSI Percent change to October 2007	Combined TSI Percent change to October 2007
2006	1	-0.3	2.5	0.4
2005	2	-0.5	6.4	1.1
2004	3	-0.6	8.0	1.4
2003	4	3.1	18.1	6.7
2002	5	5.8	20.4	9.3
2001	6	11.0	39.2	17.8
2000	7	10.9	13.9	11.0
1999	8	5.2	18.2	8.4
1998	9	8.7	24.9	12.8
1997	10	13.1	31.2	17.7

SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Note: The percent changes to October 2007 are all preliminary.

Table 6: Passenger Transportation Services Index Monthly Changes, 2004-2007

Percent change from previous month

	2004 % Growth	2005 % Growth	2006 % Growth	2007 % Growth
January	-1.2	1.4	1.9	-0.1
February	1.8	-0.1	-0.6	-2.0
March	1.1	0.5	1.0	2.2
April	0.7	0.0	0.3	0.5
May	-0.3	0.8	0.6	1.5
June	1.6	0.1	-1.0	(R) -0.2
July	0.2	0.1	0.5	(P) -1.2
August	0.9	0.2	0.0	(P) 0.2
September	-0.2	1.4	0.9	(P) 1.8
October	2.2	-1.9	0.4	(P) -1.0
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 October Passenger TSI

(Monthly average of 2000 = 100)

	Passenger TSI	Percent change from same month previous year
1998	92.9	5.0
1999	98.1	5.7
2000	101.8	3.8
2001	83.4	-18.1
2002	96.3	15.6
2003	98.3	2.0
2004	107.4	9.3
2005	1