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Given the sluggish economy, it’s not surprising the Transportation Services Index (TSI) is nosediving. In September, the index of 109.4 fell 2.3 percent from August’s level and 0.5 percent from September 2007’s level, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).

In the third quarter, the TSI — a measure of month-to-month changes in the output of services provided by for-hire transportation industries — decreased 2.8 percent compared with third-quarter 2007’s level. Through 2008’s first nine months, the index also posted a decline on a year-over-year basis.

September’s Freight TSI of 108 fell 2.5 percent from August’s level — the second-straight month-over-month decline. Large drops in August and September dropped the index into negative territory for the year, BTS said. The September decline was the index’s fifth-largest monthly decrease in the past 10 years; August’s was the eighth largest.

A measure of month-to-month changes in the output of services provided by for-hire rail, trucking, inland waterway, pipeline and air freight firms, the Freight TSI was flat vs. September 2007’s level. The index decreased 3.1 percent in the third quarter and inched down 0.3 percent through nine months compared with totals from the same 2007 period.

Meanwhile, September’s Passenger TSI of 114.9 fell 1.6 percent from August’s level and dropped 2.1 percent from September 2007’s mark — the first year-over-year decrease since September 2001.

A measure of month-to-month changes in the output of services from for-hire passenger air, local transit and intercity passenger-rail providers, the Passenger TSI decreased 1.7 percent in the third quarter and posted a decline through nine months for the first time since 2001, BTS said.