The US Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported Wednesday that the freight transportation services index (TSI) fell 3.6 percent in January from December, declining after five consecutive monthly increases. The Freight TSI measures the month-to-month changes in freight shipments by mode of transportation in ton-miles, which are then combined into one index.
The index in December 2011 was the highest level in the 22-year history of the freight TSI and January 2012 freight shipments were still up 1.6 percent from January 2011.