July 7, 2006 2:00 PM, EDT

DOT’s Transportation Services Index Rises in May

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he Transportation Department’s transportation services index for May rose 1.1% from its April level and the freight index also rose, DOT said Friday.

The May reading was the index’s third consecutive monthly increase and the biggest this year, DOT said.

The TSI’s freight index rose 1.9% from April, turning around the previous month’s 0.5% drop. It gained 0.4% over May of last year.

The full index reading of 112.4 was 0.3% higher than a year earlier.

or the first five months of 2006, the TSI rose 1.7%, the third consecutive December-to-May rise but the smallest rise in the five-month period since a decline in 2003.

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.

It includes data dating back to 1990, with changes measured against the base year of 1996. DOT said the index is still under development and is considered experimental.