Transportation Service Index

							                                       Transportation Service Index

What does the index tell us?
The TSI tells us how the output of transportation services has increased or decreased from month to
month. The index can be examined together with other economic indicators to produce a better
understanding of the current and future course of the economy. The movement of the index over time
can be compared with other economic measures to understand the relationship of transportation to
long-term changes in the economy.

What areas of transportation are covered by the index?
The freight transportation index consists of:

    1. for-hire trucking (parcel services are not included),
    2. freight railroad services (including rail-based intermodal shipments such as containers on flat
       cars),
    3. inland waterway traffic,
    4. pipeline movements (including principally petroleum and petroleum products and natural gas),
       and
    5. Air freight.

The index does not include international or coastal steamship movements, private trucking, courier
services, or the United States Postal Service.

What is the Transportation Services Index (TSI)?
The TSI is a monthly measure of the volume of services performed by the for-hire transportation sector.
The index covers the activities of for-hire freight carriers, for-hire passenger carriers, and a combination
of the two. The TSI is still under development and is therefore experimental. It is being examined for
refinements in data sources, methodologies, and interpretations.

The passenger transportation index consists of:

    1. local mass transit,
    2. intercity passenger rail, and
    3. Passenger air transportation.

The index does not include intercity bus, sight seeing services, taxi service, private automobile usage, or
bicycling and other nonmotorized means of transportation.

The components have been selected to give the best coverage possible of the for-hire transportation
industry, subject to current limitations on the availability of monthly data. They are grouped to conform
to the classifications used in the National Income and Product Accounts.
Transportation index is an experimental study that has show an increase in the TSI as a monthly
measure of the volume of services performed by the for-hire transportation sector. The index covers the
activities of for-hire freight carriers, for-hire passenger carriers, and a combination of the two. The TSI
excludes transportation means like intercity bussing, sight seeing services, taxi service, private
automobile usage, or bicycling and other non-motorized means of transportation.