The Freight Transportation Services Index dropped 0.6 percent in May from April, the third consecutive monthly decline and its lowest level in 12 years
, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

While May saw the smallest decrease of the three months, it marked the ninth decline in the index in the last 10 months. In February, the index rose two percent. The 6.3 percent decline in the first five months of 2009 was the largest in the last decade.

May freight landed at 94, the lowest since June 1997, when it was at 92.4. May levels are 16.7 percent below the index's historic peak of 112.9 in May 2006.

The freight TSI measures the month-to-month changes in the output of services provided by the for-hire freight transportation industries. The index consists of data from for-hire trucking, rail, inland waterways, pipelines and air freight.

The index is down 14.8 percent from May 2008 to May 2009, the largest May-to-May decline in the 20 years for which the TSI is calculated.

For additional historical data, visit www.bts.gov/xml/tsi/src/index.xml.