The Transportation Services Index (TSI) for freight rose 1.3 percent in September from the August level, rising after two consecutive monthly decreases, according to information from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), an agency of the Department of Transportation.
The Freight TSI September 2006 level fell 1.0 percent from the September 2005 level, the second consecutive decline from September of the previous year and the largest September-to-September decline since 2001.
For the first nine months of 2006, the Freight TSI fell 1.3 percent, the second consecutive decline in the December-to-September period and the biggest decline in the period since 2000.
The freight TSI is a single seasonally adjusted index of the month-to-month changes in the output of services provided by the for-hire transportation industries, including truck, as well as railroad, air, inland waterways, pipeline, and local transit.