January Transportation Services Index Declines 0.6%

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The U.S. Transportation Department’s transportation services index fell 0.6% in January following a one-month increase in December, DOT said Wednesday.The TSI is a combination of freight and passenger indexes. December’s index had risen by 0.9%.The January freight index fell 0.4%, following a 0.8% increase in December. The freight index downturn was the second in five months; it had also declined in November.The January overall TSI decline was the fifth monthly decline in the past eight months and the index is 2.3% below its peak last May.The January decline was the first December-to-January decline since 2004, DOT said.TSI is a seasonally adjusted monthly index measuring the output of services provided by the for-hire transportation industries, including railroad, air, truck, inland waterways, pipeline and local transit.