Transportation Services Index drops

After three straight months on the rise, the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Transportation Services Index fell 0.2% in December to 127.3. This was still 5.1% ahead of the same period in 2003, according to the DOT.

The index is based on the year 1996 (which has a base score of 100), and December 2004 was 24.9% higher than it was in December 1996.

The Transportation Services Index 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 railroad, air, truck, inland waterways, pipeline and local transit.