Transportation Services Index Declines Again

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he Transportation Department’s transportation services index fell 0.9% in February from January, and the index’s freight component also declined, DOT said Thursday.

The reading was the third straight drop and the sixth in the past seven months, DOT said.

The TSI for freight fell 0.8% from January. The February freight index was 0.1% lower than a year earlier, the first decline from February of a previous year since 2001.

he combined freight and passenger index reading of 110.2 was 0.2% higher than a year earlier, the fourth straight rise from February of the previous year, 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.

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.