Freight in

America

 A New national picture

Bureau of Transportation Statistics

U.S. Department of Transportation

Research and Innovative Technology Administration

Freight in 

America 

 A New national picture

January 2006

Bureau of Transportation Statistics 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

Research and Innovative Technology Administration 
To obtain Freight in America and other BTS publications:

Phone: 202-366-DATA

Fax: 202-366-3197

Internet: www.bts.gov

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 Research and Innovative Technology Administration

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Phone: 1-800-853-1351

Recommended citation

U.S. Department of Transportation

Research and Innovative Technology Administration

Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Freight in America, January 2006

Washington, DC: 2006
U.S. Department of 

Transportation

Norman Y. Mineta

Secretary

Maria Cino

Deputy Secretary

Research and Innovative 

Technology Administration

Ashok G. Kaveeshwar 

Administrator

Eric C. Peterson

Deputy Administrator

Bureau of Transportation 

Statistics

Mary J. Hutzler

Acting Deputy Director

Produced under the 

direction of:

Michael P. Cohen 

Assistant Director for Survey 

Programs

Wendell Fletcher

Assistant Director for

Transportation Analysis

Program Manager

Deborah D. Johnson

Author

Felix Ammah-Tagoe

Editor

William Moore

Design and Layout

Dorinda Edmondson

Cover Design and Graphics

Alpha Glass

Major Contributors

Michael Margreta

Michael Sprung

Adhi Dipo

Shana Retherford

Scott Dennis

Charlie Han

Other Contributors

Steve Beningo

Ron Duych

Alan Jeeves

Paula Robinson

Neil Russell

Joy Sharp

Getachew Mekonnen

Fahim Mohamed

Sakina Saulath

Special Acknowledgment

Special thanks to Rolf Schmitt 

and Tianjia Tang of the Federal 

Highway Administration, 

Offi ce of Freight Management 

and Operations, for their 

collaboration in producing the 

new national estimates used in 

this report and in the Freight 

Analysis Framework II data 

program. 

Acknowledgments

Table of Contents

Executive Summary – The Bottom Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Major Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

The Nation’s Freight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Composite Estimates of U.S. Freight Shipments, 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Commodity Flow Survey Estimates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Beyond Composite Estimates and the Commodity Flow Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

The Geography of U.S. Freight Shipments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Origins and Destinations by State and Metro Areas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Interstate Freight Movements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

U.S.-International Freight Shipments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

U.S.-NAFTA Trade. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

North American Land Border Crossings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

U.S.-International Freight Gateways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Appendix A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Measuring the Nation’s Freight Movements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Coverage and Limitations of the CFS Freight Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Reliability of the CFS Data Used in this Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Appendix B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Why the 2002 Composite Estimates in this Report Differ from Preliminary Estimates . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

List of Tables

1. Commercial Freight Activity in the United States by Transportation Mode: 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

2. Major Elements of the U.S. Freight Transportation System: 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

3. Modal Breakdown of Composite Estimates of U.S. Commercial Freight: 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

4. Percent Shares of the Sectors Covered in the Composite Estimates of 

 U.S. Commercial Freight: 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

5. Freight Shipments by Two-Digit Commodity: 1997 and 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

6. Hazardous Material Shipment Characteristics by Mode of Transportation: 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

7. Hazardous Material Shipment by Hazard Class and Mode of Transportation: 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

8. Freight Shipments by Shipment Weight: 1993 and 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

9. Number of Vehicles, Aircraft, Railcars, and Vessels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

10. Commodity Flow Survey Shipments by Transportation Mode: 1993 and 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

11. Value Per Ton of U.S. Freight Shipments by Transportation Mode: 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

12. U.S. Rail Carload and Intermodal Commodity Shipments: 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

v
13. Tons of Coal for Top Railroads Originated by State: 2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

14. Tons, Ton-Miles, and Length of Haul of U.S. Domestic and International 

 Maritime Freight: 1980-2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

15. Top 10 U.S. Maritime Container Ports: 1995-2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

16. U.S. Pipeline Ton-Miles: 1980-2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

17. Air Carrier Revenue Freight Ton-Miles and Passenger-Miles: 1980-2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

18. Value and Weight of Outbound and Inbound Commodity Flows by State: 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

19. Interstate Commerce as Share of Shipments by State of Origin: 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

20. Truck Shipments as Share of Total Value of All Shipments Originating in State: 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

21. Interstate Truck Shipments as Share of All Truck Shipments Originating in State: 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

22. Top 15 U.S. Trading Partners by Value of Merchandise Trade: 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

23. Top 5 U.S. Land Ports by U.S.-NAFTA Border Crossings: 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

24. Top 25 U.S. Freight Gateways, Ranked by Value of Shipments: 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

25. U.S. Maritime Freight Gateways, Ranked by Value and Weight: 2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

26. Comparison of Estimates of U.S. Total Commercial Activity for 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

List of Figures

Exhibit A: Sectors Included in the National Freight Composite Estimates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

1. Breakdown of the National Freight Composite Estimates by Data Source and Mode: 2002 . . . . . . . . 12

2. Average Length of Haul by Major Commodity Group: 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

3. U.S. Freight Shipments by Distance Shipped: 1993 and 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

4. Value Per Ton of Shipments by Distance Shipped: 1993 and 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

5. Growth in U.S. Domestic Freight Ton-Miles: 1980-2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

6. Growth in U.S. Domestic Freight Ton-Miles by Mode: 1980-2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

7. Number of Commercial Trucks on U.S. Highways: 1980, 1990, 2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

8. Truck Vehicle-Miles Traveled on U.S. Highways: 1980-2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

9. Tonnage of Inbound and Outbound Rail Shipments: 2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

10. U.S. Air Freight Domestic and International Revenue Ton-Miles: 1980-2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

11. Rail-Truck Intermodal Traffi c in the United States: 1980-2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

12. Air Freight Handled by the Top Three All-Cargo Carriers at their Hubs: 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

13. Value of Freight Shipments by State of Origin: 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

14. Distribution of CFS Shipments from Los Angeles Metropolitan Area: 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

15. Interstate and Intrastate Flows as Share of Outbound Shipment Value by State: 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

16. Modal Shares of U.S. Trade with Canada and Mexico by Value and Weight: 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

List of Boxes

A. The New National Freight Composite Estimates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

B. How the 2002 National Freight Composite Estimates Were Derived . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

C. Interpreting Shipment Value and Tonnage Data in the Composite Estimates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

D. Interpreting Value, Tons, and Ton-Miles in the Commodity Flow Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

vi
1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY—

THE BOTTOM LINE

According to new estimates by the Bureau of 

Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative 

Technology Administration (RITA) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), over 19 

billion tons of freight, valued at $13 trillion, was 

carried over 4.4 trillion ton-miles in the United 

States in 2002. This means that on a typical day in 

the United States in 2002, about 53 million tons of 

goods valued at about $36 billion moved nearly 12 

billion ton-miles on the nation’s multimodal transportation network.1 The new estimates combine 

data from the Commodity Flow Survey (CFS)—the 

most comprehensive nationwide source of freight 

data—and data from other sources to provide the 

most complete picture of freight movement in 

America yet available (exhibit A). 

This report discusses the resulting composite estimates, using 2002, the year of the latest 

CFS, as the baseline. It also discusses more recent 

data for specifi c modes, the geography of freight 

movements in the United States, and the growing importance of international trade to the U.S. 

freight transportation system. 

As the U.S. freight transportation system 

advances further into the 21st Century, the need 

for managing the demand on the system and 

monitoring the volume of freight handled by each 

transportation mode will remain critical. It is 

important to know how much freight and what 

type of goods move on our nation’s transportation 

network. These and other data about the kind of 

transportation mode, vehicle or vessel characteristics, and facility type are needed to track, monitor 

conditions and performance, evaluate investment 

1 These new national estimates were jointly developed by the 

RITA Bureau of Transportation Statistics and the FHWA Offi ce 

of Freight Management and Operations as part of the Freight 

Analysis Framework II and the Commodity Flow Survey data 

program.

needs, and fully measure the many ways freight 

interacts with and enables economic activity.

Today, businesses depend on the interconnected 

transportation network to move myriads of goods, 

from raw materials such as lumber, coal, and petroleum products to manufactured goods including 

medical supplies, furniture, household appliances, 

and computers. More than ever before, Americans 

take for granted buying imported fresh fruits, vegetables, and fl owers at their local supermarkets; 

next-day delivery of goods purchased over the 

Internet; and tracking express packages online to 

know their whereabouts at any given time. These 

everyday occurrences result from the availability of a vast transportation network, changes in 

Sectors covered in the Commodity Flow Survey

Manufacturing

Mining

Wholesale trade

Selected Retail trade

Sectors not covered by the Commodity Flow Survey

Imports Publishing

Farm based Construction

Logging Services

Fisheries Retail

Crude petroleum Municipal solid waste

Natural gas

Sectors partially covered in the CFS

Exports

Petroleum products

Other sectors

Household and office goods moves

In-transit shipments

Total composite

national estimates

by transportation

mode and 

commodity

Also serve

as a

 benchmark

for the FHWA

Freight Analysis

Framework II

EXHIBIT A

FREIGHT IN AMERICA
2 FREIGHT IN AMERICA

freight delivery services and freight carrier operations, and improvements in freight logistics due in 

part to advancements in information technology 

and the Internet.

While goods movement in the United States is 

changing, some long-standing freight trends persist and new ones are emerging. Among the modes 

of transportation, trucking remains the shipping 

choice for many businesses and is increasing its 

market share. Air freight and express delivery 

are growing the most rapidly, although air cargo 

remains a small and specialized part of freight 

activity in terms of tonnage. Intermodal freight is 

increasing and use of containers for multimodal 

shipments is rising. Growing demand for more 

effi cient and faster delivery of high value, low 

weight products is changing the structure of the 

freight industry, creating new alliances among 

shippers, carriers, and logistics providers. At 

the same time, enormous volumes of bulk commodities—whether grains, lumber, ores, coal, or 

oil—continue to move into, out of, and within 

the United States. These trends continue to shape 

freight transportation and transportation’s importance to the U.S. economy.

Major Highlights

Composite Estimates

• The composite estimates show that much more 

freight moves on the nation’s freight transportation system than previously reported in the 

CFS.

• They show that in 2002, by value 36 percent of 

the freight moved nationally was non-CFS shipments; about 40 percent by tonnage and about 

29 percent by ton-miles were non-CFS.

• On a per-capita basis, the composite estimates 

indicate that an average of about 68 tons of 

freight (135,338 pounds) valued at $45,324 

were transported about 15,310 ton-miles for 

every American resident in 2002. 

Transportation Mode

• Whether measured by value, weight, or tonmiles of the composite estimates, trucking as a 

single mode (including for-hire and private use) 

was the most frequently used mode, hauling an 

estimated 70 percent of the total value, 60 percent of the weight, and 34 percent of the overall 

ton-miles. 

• Measured by ton-miles of the composite estimates, trucking was followed by rail at 31 percent, pipeline at 16 percent, and water with 11 

percent. In general, trucking dominated shipment distances of less than 500 miles while rail 

dominated the longer distance shipments. 

International

• According to the new composite estimates, 

nearly 1.7 billion tons of merchandise moved in 

and out of the United States in 2002, accounting for over 9 percent of the 19 billion tons of 

the total commercial freight transported on the 

nation’s transportation system. 

In 2004, the top fi ve freight gateways represented the three transportation modes—water, air, 

and land. The John F. Kennedy (JFK) International 

Airport was the leading gateway for international 

trade by value, the Port of Los Angeles ranked second in value, and the Port of Long Beach ranked 

third. These were followed by the land border 

crossing of Detroit and the Port of New York and 

New Jersey. 

Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) Estimates

Commodities

The composite estimates do not provide the 

detailed information about shipments provided by 

the CFS. Hence, the report relies on the CFS data 

to discuss commodity-specifi c shipments, shipments distance, weight, and geography of freight 

shipments.

• According to the CFS, in 2002, more than $1 

out of every $10 (11 percent) of freight goods 

shipped was for electronic, electrical, and offi ce 

equipment, down slightly from 13 percent of 

the value in 1997. 

• One out of every six tons transported by freight 

carriers covered in the CFS was gravel and 

crushed stone. 

• The top commodity by ton-miles in 2002 was 

coal, carrying 686 billion tons and accounting 

for about 22 percent of all CFS ton-miles.
FREIGHT IN AMERICA 3

Distance

• In 2002, more than three-quarters (77 percent) of the weight (9 billion tons) of all CFS 

shipments and over half the value ($4.6 trillion), moved in local and short haul shipments, 

within 250 miles from origin. However, longhaul shipments—more than 250 miles—carried 

82 percent of the ton-miles. 

Size

• Smaller sized shipments (less than 500 pounds) 

accounted for about 25 percent of the value 

of CFS shipments. Of these shipments, those 

weighing less than 100 pounds grew even faster 

by value between 1993 and 2002—65 percent 

by value. 

Geography

• By value, the leading state of origin for CFS 

shipments was California with 11 percent 

($924 billion) of the value of total CFS shipments, followed by Texas with 7 percent of the 

value. Other leading states of origin by value 

include Ohio and Illinois.

• By weight, the leading states of origin for outbound CFS shipments include Texas, California, and Illinois.

• By value, the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside metro area was the lead for outbound CFS 

shipments originating in metropolitan areas.

• By weight, the leading metropolitan areas were: 

Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, Texas; ChicagoNaperville-Michigan City (Illinois part); and 

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside.

• Nationally, nearly 60 percent of the value of 

CFS freight shipments by all modes, worth $4.9 

trillion, crossed state lines in interstate commerce. By weight 34 percent of the shipments, 

over 4 billion tons was interstate.

Each transportation mode continues to play an 

important role in the movement of freight, whether 

hauling large quantities of bulk commodities or 

perishables over great distances, carrying smaller 

packages to the main streets and back roads of 

America, or fl ying high-value merchandise to and 

from our trading partners abroad. Growth in the 

U.S. economy, increases in wholesale and retail 

trade, and changes in our overseas trading partners will continue to affect the level of U.S. freight 

shipments and the demand for freight transportation services. By 2020 the nation’s freight tonnage 

is projected to increase nearly 70 percent (USDOT 

FHWA 2003).2 With this expected growth, the 

need to better track changes in how freight moves 

and monitor the possible impacts on system capacity, congestion, safety, and the environment will 

be of major importance.

THE NATION’S FREIGHT

Introduction

As the data in this report show, the U.S. freight 

transportation system carries enormous quantities 

of goods and raw materials to support economic 

and industrial activities all across the nation and 

to meet consumer demands. The system also handles large volumes of goods traded internationally 

and transported to and from the United States and 

places throughout the world. Freight transportation 

touches every aspect of American economic life. 

Goods movement is increasingly part of a complex 

logistical system that serves an increasingly globalized economy. Transportation’s vital importance to 

the U.S. economy is underscored by the fact that 

more than $1 out of every $10 produced in the U.S. 

gross domestic product (GDP) is related to transportation activity (USDOT BTS 2005).3

Freight in America presents new estimates of 

freight movements in the United States that are 

more comprehensive than the Commodity Flow 

Survey (CFS) and covers domestic shipments from 

all the major economic sectors as well as exports 

and imports. It uses fi nal data from the 2002 CFS 

and composite estimates compiled from many 

sources to fi ll gaps in CFS coverage by industry, 

commodity, and transportation mode (boxes A 

and B).4 The new estimates include a large quan2 This projection is based on the 1998 benchmark reported by the 

Federal Highway Administration’s Freight Analysis Framework.

3 This includes all aspects of transportation, including the movement of goods and the purchase of all transportation-related 

products and services as well as the movement of people.

4 This report is more complete than the April 2004 Freight Shipments in America preliminary highlights report that was based 

on the preliminary 2002 CFS data. In this report estimates of the 

nation’s freight shipments differ from the initial estimates. For 

instance, CFS’ share of total shipments in this report are lower 

than the preliminary estimates due to the addition of estimates 

for previously uncovered sectors, such as construction, retail, services, and municipal solid waste. 
4 FREIGHT IN AMERICA

tity of material often not counted in domestic 

freight surveys, such as municipal solid waste, 

goods handled by the service sector, and household and offi ce relocations.5 Each mode carries 

more freight and uses more of the freight infrastructure than previously documented. 

The 2002 CFS fi nal national data were released 

in December 2004 by the Research and Innova5 As explained in box A, the CFS covers most but not all commercial freight activity in the United States. BTS and Federal 

Highway Administration supplemented the CFS data with other 

data sources to create a detailed picture of the nation’s commercial freight fl ows. 

tive Technology Administration’s (RITA) Bureau 

of Transportation Statistics (BTS) and the U.S. 

Census Bureau. Composite estimates in this report 

were subsequently developed by BTS and the Federal Highway Administration from multiple data 

sources to complement the CFS data and provide a 

better picture of commercial freight movements—

both domestic and U.S.-international. 

This report presents snapshots of changes in 

freight movements that occurred between 1993 and 

2002, highlighting major trends during this period 

where the data allow such comparisons. Freight in 

America discusses recent trends in freight characThe largest single data source for estimating U.S. 

freight activity is the Commodity Flow Survey (CFS). 

This survey covers a large proportion of the nation’s 

domestic and export freight movements associated with 

manufacturing, mining, and wholesale trade. However, it 

does not capture all of the freight that moves on the U.S. 

freight system because many economic activities are not 

covered. In order to report on the current state of freight 

shipments in America and to describe the major changes 

that are taking place in U.S. freight transportation, this 

report makes use of several other data sources to provide 

a more complete snapshot of the nation’s freight activities in 2002 (the year of the most recent CFS). Where 

2003 and 2004 data are available, such as goods imports 

and exports and overall ton-miles, this report also uses 

these data to describe recent freight activity. 

The composite estimates presented in this report are 

the result of a joint effort by the Research and Innovative 

Technology Administration (RITA), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Offi ce of Freight Management and 

Operations, to develop a more complete picture of the 

nation’s commercial freight shipments, including all economic sectors that handle freight in one way or another 

(see exhibit A). This fuller composite picture draws on the 

CFS data and non-CFS freight data from several sources 

for economic sectors not covered in the CFS, such as retail, 

services, construction, and households goods movements 

– that traditionally are not perceived as freight “producers” but that do handle freight in their daily operations. 

It also includes shipments of agricultural products from 

farms to processing plants, logs and rough wood, fi shery 

products, crude petroleum, and municipal solid waste. 

The new composite estimate is different and larger than 

the BTS estimates published in the Freight Shipments in 

America report, which used preliminary 2002 CFS data, 

not the fi nal data used here, and does not include the nonCFS shipments discussed above. 

Some data gaps still exist in the national freight picture. The new estimates do not include transshipments, 

such as shipments from Canada that are transported 

on U.S. highways to Mexico but do not offi cially enter 

into the U.S. economy. With the exception of municipal solid waste, the estimates do not include government 

shipments. The composite estimates, using the current 

methods, were developed for 2002 only. Because the 

additional complementary data have not been assembled 

for 1993 and 1997, the other CFS years, the report uses 

only the CFS data when discussing changes in freight 

movements by type of transportation modes used in 

moving the nation’s freight, the kinds of commodities 

moved, and the distances traveled. 

In order to make comparisons by mode, commodity, and other freight characteristics and determine, for 

example, which commodities are shipped the most, BTS 

performed statistical signifi cance testing on CFS data for 

freight value, weight, and ton-miles.1 It was not practical to do this testing for the non-CFS estimates because 

they were drawn from different sources and some of the 

estimates are modeled data with many assumptions that 

cannot be tested statistically. 

Throughout this report, a statistically signifi cant difference between two different entities in the CFS (numbers, groups, classifi cations, categories, etc. developed 

from a sample) is measured at the 10 percent level. This 

provides a 90 percent level of certainty about CFS estimates. That is, if we were to repeatedly make new estimates using exactly the same procedure (by drawing a 

new sample, conducting new interviews, calculating new 

estimates and new confi dence intervals), the confi dence 

intervals would contain the average of all the estimates 

90 percent of the time.

1 The BTS Offi ce of Survey Programs performed the statistical signifi cance testing for this report, using statistical reliability 

methods based on Raj and Chandhok 1998.

BOX A

The New National Freight Composite Estimates
FREIGHT IN AMERICA 5

BOX B

How the 2002 National Freight Composite Estimates Were Derived

The composite estimates include data from the Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) and data from sectors not covered in 

the CFS. The estimates were derived for each mode of transportation and at the 2-digit Standard Classifi cation of 

Transported Goods (SCTG) level. Below is a brief description of the coverage, methods, and sources for these data:

Component Coverage, methods, and sources

COMMODITY FLOW SURVEY DATA

In-scope sectors Covers domestic and export shipments by manufacturing, mining, wholesale trade, and 

selected retail sectors. Based on published results of the 2002 CFS as reported by the 

Bureau of Transportation Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau.

NONCOMMODITY FLOW SURVEY DATA INCLUDED IN THE COMPOSITE ESTIMATES

(a) Out-of-scope: sectors in the North American Industry Classifi cation System (NAICS) not covered in the 2002 CFS

Imports Covers offi cial U.S. merchandise imports trade by mode and commodity. Value and 

weight information derived from trade data. Ton-miles derived as a sum of tonnage multiplied by estimated shipment travel distance for each mode.

Farm-based Covers farm-based agricultural shipments that occur prior to storage in off farm facilities 

(e.g., grain elevators) or processing plants (e.g., fruit and live stock distribution centers). 

Estimates based on the 2002 Census of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2004 Agricultural Statistics. 

Fisheries Covers fi shery shipments that go from fi shing vessels to processing/distribution centers, 

excluding farm-raised fi sh which is covered by the CFS. Based on tonnage data from the 

2002 Fisheries of the United States by the National Marine Fisheries Service and vehicle 

mileage data from the Vehicle Inventory and Use Survey (VIUS).

Crude petroleum Covers crude petroleum shipments by oil and gas extraction industries. Based on data 

from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) Petroleum Supply Annual 2002, the 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and Shifts in Petroleum Transportation published by the Association of Oil Pipelines.

Natural gas Covers natural gas shipments by oil and gas extraction industries. Based on data from 

EIA’s Natural Gas Annual and the information from the Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission.

Municipal solid waste Covers waste collected by municipalities, such as household trash, cardboard boxes, 

consumer appliances, newspapers, and yard trimmings. Excludes wastes such as sludge, 

agricultural wastes, and industrial wastes. Based on data from various state and municipal agencies and information from the BioCycle Journal of Composting and Organics 

Recycling.

Logging Logging is out of scope for the 2002 CFS because of the change from the Standard Industrial Classifi cation (SIC) to the North American Industry Classifi cation System (NAICS). 

Estimates based on data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Statistics, 

the Rail Waybill Sample, and the Waterborne Commerce of United States.

Publishing In 2002, publishing became out of scope because of the change from the Standard Industryial Classifi cation (SIC) to the North American Industry Classifi cation System (NAICS). 

Estimates based on data from the Economic Census and average miles per shipment 

information from the 1997 CFS.

Construction Covers shipments of companies engaged in construction of residential and commercial 

buildings, utility systems, road and bridge construction, and specialty trade contractors. 

Estimates based on the Vehicle Inventory and Use Survey (VIUS), the Economic Census, 

and average miles per shipment information by commodity from the 1997 CFS.

Services Covers shipments from service sector companies engaged in, for example, accommodation and food, rental and leasing, repair and maintenance, and scientifi c and technical 

services. Estimates based on the VIUS, the Economic Census, and average miles per shipment information by commodity from the 1997 CFS.

(continued on next page)
6 FREIGHT IN AMERICA

teristics, such as length of haul, shipment size, and 

commodities shipped. The report also highlights 

the geography of freight movements, including 

freight movements at the state, regional, and metropolitan area levels; interstate freight shipments; 

and U.S.-international freight movements.

Composite Estimates of U.S. Freight 

Shipments, 2002

What the Estimates Show

The composite estimates show that American 

businesses transported over 19 billion tons of raw 

materials and fi nished goods in 2002 from the 

covered freight generating economic sectors (table 

1).6 The value of these freight shipments in 2002, 

including domestic commodity movements and 

domestic transportation of exports and imports, 

was $13 trillion. These large quantities of freight 

shipments are diverse and include manufactured 

goods, electronic equipment, grain moved along 

6 2002 is the most recent year for which comprehensive nationwide freight estimates are available for all modes of transportation 

and for local, intercity, interstate, and U.S.-international freight 

shipments. See boxes A and B for additional information. 

the Mississippi River to Gulf Coast ports, furniture and fi xtures from household and offi ce 

relocations, and farm products as well as crude 

petroleum and natural gas shipments (see boxes 

B and C).

Whether transported from farms, factories, 

or seaports and moved by trucks, trains, vessels, pipelines, or airplanes, the freight moved in 

2002 generated more than 4.4 trillion ton-miles 

over the nation’s freight transportation system. 

The shipments moved over an extensive freight 

transportation system supported by sophisticated 

information technology and operated, managed, 

and maintained by a large number of establishments employing a large labor force (table 2). 

Comparison of the 2002 CFS and the 

Composite Estimates

As a proportion of the composite estimates, the 

2002 CFS accounted for:

• 65 percent of the $13 trillion in total shipment 

value, 

BOX B

How the 2002 National Freight Composite Estimates Were Derived—Continued

Component Coverage, methods, and sources

(b) In-scope: sectors are in the CFS but coverage is incomplete

Retail Covers retail companies, including motor vehicle and parts dealers; furniture, home 

goods, electronic and appliance, building materials, clothing, etc. stores; and general 

merchandise stores. 

Exports Represents the net difference between offi cial U.S. merchandise exports and the exports 

measured in the CFS by mode and commodity. Based on U.S.-international merchandise 

trade.

Petroleum products Represents the net difference between petroleum products measured in the CFS and reported 

by the Association of Oil Pipe Lines and the Energy Information Administration.

(c) Other

Household and offi ce 

moves

Covers movement of household goods and used institutional or commercial furniture 

and equipment. Data from the Economic Census and the American Moving and Storage 

Association.

In-transit Covers shipments from a foreign country passing through the United States to another 

foreign country, for example, shipments from Canada to Mexico via the United States. 

Based on U.S.-international merchandise trade data.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Adapted from the technical reports developed during estimation of the out-of-scope sectors and the composite estimates, 

October 2005.
FREIGHT IN AMERICA 7

• 60 percent of the 19 billion tons of total shipments, and 

• 71 percent of the 4.4 trillion ton-miles of estimated total commercial freight movement.

Table 3 provides the estimates of value, tons, 

and ton-miles of total U.S. freight shipments by 

transportation mode and the relative shares of the 

CFS component compared with the component 

not covered by the CFS. The composite estimates 

could be further revised as the estimation methods 

are improved. 

Other differences between the CFS subtotals 

and the data sources used to develop the composite 

picture, relate to value, modal combinations, average shipment distance, and commodity mix (table 

3). For example, shipments covered by the CFS 

were valued at $720 per ton compared with about 

$590 per ton of shipments measured in the nonCFS data. The non-CFS data have lower average 

value per ton because these data include heavier 

products such as crude oil, some petroleum products, and municipal solid waste. The CFS reported 

the average distance traveled per shipment-ton to 

be about 270 miles while the non-CFS calculations estimated an average of about 160 miles per 

ton. The proportional shares of CFS and non-CFS 

shipments also vary in terms of freight modes. 

Most imports are not covered in the CFS component, but are included in the non-CFS estimates. 

Hence, the portion of total estimates for water, 

air, and pipeline reported by the non-CFS estimate 

TABLE 1

Commercial Freight Activity in the United States by Transportation Mode: 2002

(Based on composite estimates)1

Transportation mode

Modal estimates Relative shares (percent)

Value 

(billion $)

Tons 

(million)

Ton–miles 

(billion) Value Tons Ton-miles

All modes1 13,052 19,487 4,409 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Single modes 11,599 18,894 4,073 88.9 97.0 92.4 

Truck2 9,075 11,712 1,515 69.5 60.1 34.4 

Rail 392 1,979 1,372 3.0 10.2 31.1 

Water 673 1,668 485 5.2 8.6 11.0 

Air (incl. truck and air) 563 6 13 4.3 — 0.3 

Pipeline3 896 3,529 688 6.9 18.1 15.6 

Multiple modes 1,121 229 233 8.6 1.2 5.3 

Parcel, postal, or courier 1,022 27 21 7.8 0.1 0.5 

Truck and rail 77 52 50 0.6 0.3 1.1 

Other multiple modes4 22 150 162 0.20 0.8 3.7 

Unknown modes 331 365 103 2.5 1.9 2.3 

KEY: — Represents measurement less than one-tenth of one percent.

1 These composite estimates include Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) data and out-of-scope shipments for sectors that are not included in 

the CFS, such as imports, logging, construction, retail, services, publishing, municipal solid waste, and household and business moves. They 

also include estimates of in-scope shipments for sectors that are covered in CFS, including some sectors that may have been underestimated due to small sample size, such as exports, intermodal, and petroleum products. These composite estimates serve as the 2002 

benchmark data for the FHWA Freight Analysis Framework II.

2 “Truck” as a single mode includes shipments that were made by private truck only, for-hire truck only, or a combination of private and 

for-hire truck.

3 Estimates for pipeline include shipments of crude petroleum.

4 Other multiple modes include combinations of truck and water, rail and water, and other combinations.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics and 

U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Commodity Flow Survey, United States Data, December 2004, plus sources for 

composite estimates listed in box B. The composite estimates were developed through a cooperative effort by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and the Federal Highway Administration.
8 FREIGHT IN AMERICA

data sources exceed the estimates captured in the 

CFS. For instance, the non-CFS data accounted 

for over 53 percent of the total value of air shipments and over 80 percent of the total value of 

water shipments. 

Table 4 shows the relative shares of the composite estimates by CFS and non-CFS components 

and a breakdown of the non-CFS portion. By 

value, the major non-CFS commodities include 

goods transported by the construction sector, 

imports, natural gas, retail sector goods, and service sector. By weight, the largest non-CFS sectors 

are natural gas, imports, farm-based products, 

and crude petroleum. 

The key highlight to be gleaned from the new 

composite estimates is illustrated by fi gure 1, 

which shows a breakdown of the overall estimate 

into the proportion covered by the CFS and the 

non-CFS data in terms of value, weight, and tonmiles. The charts clearly illustrate the largest data 

gaps fi lled by the joint BTS and FHWA cooperative effort. 

• Measured by value, the non-CFS supplemental data accounted for over 80 percent each of 

water and pipeline shipments, mostly because 

of the CFS exclusion of imports and crude 

petroleum; over half of air shipments; nearly 

The new freight totals are larger than the value-added 

and fi nal weight of materials used in products purchased 

by consumers and other end-users. Also, the total value 

of shipments is not directly comparable to the national 

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) because GDP measures 

the value added or net output of production. The value 

of goods measured in the CFS includes the market value 

of goods used in production as well as fi nal demand; 

hence the goods may be counted more than once in the 

production life cycle.

While the composite estimates of total freight shipments provide the most complete commercial freight picture for all modes of transportation, they exclude most 

government shipments, except municipal solid waste.

The new national composite estimates defi ne a shipment in a similar manner as defi ned in the CFS. A shipment is a single movement of goods, commodities, or 

products from an establishment to a single customer or 

to another establishment owned or operated by the same 

company as the originating establishment (e.g., a warehouse, distribution center, or retail or wholesale outlet). 

Shipments are recounted every time the goods change 

hands from one establishment to another. Full or partial 

truckloads are counted as a single shipment only if all 

commodities on the truck are destined for the same location. If a truck makes multiple deliveries on a route, each 

stop is counted as one shipment. 

For the sectors covered in the CFS, a shipment is 

counted to represent a transportation movement and 

measures the true origins and destinations as contrasted 

with terminal-to-terminal movements. Even where shipments are carried by more than one transportation mode, 

the shipment information covers the ultimate origins and 

destinations. However, because the CFS data are from 

shippers and not carriers, the data do not accurately measure intermodal combinations used for transporting the 

goods. This lack of accurate modal information affects 

the level of intermodal shipments, because some of these 

shipments are grouped into other and unknown modes. 

For the non-CFS sectors, shipments represent the 

total goods generated, handled, or transported by that 

sector. Because actual information on true origins and 

destination is not available for nearly all these nonCFS sectors, the new estimates cover an approximate 

distance representing the average distance traveled by 

particular commodities and transportation modes. This 

is particularly the case for merchandise imports, where 

detail information on ultimate domestic destination of 

goods by commodity and mode or whether and where 

the goods changed hands are nonexistent. And so, for 

example, the value and tonnage of imported freight are 

not counted multiple times as the goods arrive at U.S. 

ports and are transported to their true fi nal destinations 

elsewhere in the country or to local warehouses and distribution centers. However, if the imports happen to be 

transported to a domestic U.S. establishment that is covered by the CFS, then those goods will be measured by 

the CFS and as such will be double counted in these new 

composite estimates. Currently, BTS and FHWA do not 

have the information necessary to remove such potential 

double counting.

BOX C

Interpreting Shipment Value and Tonnage Data in the Composite Estimates
FREIGHT IN AMERICA 9

one-third of truck shipments; and about onefi fth of rail shipments. 

• The picture changes when measured by weight, 

with the non-CFS data accounting for 80 percent of the pipeline tonnage, 59 percent of the 

water shipments, 40 percent of the air shipments, one-third of truck shipments and, about 

5 percent of rail mode shipments. 

• By ton-miles, the non-CFS data accounted for 

nearly all of the pipeline shipments because the 

2002 CFS did not cover crude petroleum and 

natural gas movements. These supplemental 

data accounted for about 42 percent of water 

ton-miles, 17 percent of the truck ton-miles and 

about 8 percent of the rail ton-miles.

TABLE 2

Major Elements of the U.S. Freight Transportation System: 2002

Mode System extent

Highway Public roads

46,769 miles of Interstate highway

115,032 miles of other National Highway System roads

3,828,046 miles of other roads

Air Public-use airports

5,286 airports

Rail Miles of railroad operated

98,944 miles by Class I freight railroads in the United States1

15,648 miles by regional freight railroads

26,347 miles by local freight railroads

Water 26,000 miles of navigable waterways

Commercial waterway facilities

Great Lakes: 600 miles deep-draft

Great Lakes: 154 miles shallow-draft

Inland: 2,361 miles shallow-draft

Ocean: 4,284 miles deep-draft

Ocean: 1,765 miles shallow-draft

Locks: 275 miles

Pipeline Oil

Crude lines: 64,336 miles of pipe 

Product lines: 75,565 miles of pipe 

Gas

Transmission: 309,503 miles of pipe 

Distribution: 1,079,565 miles of pipe 

1 Includes 570 miles of railroad owned by Canada. 

SOURCE: Various sources, as cited in USDOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), National Transportation Statistics, available at http:// www.bts.gov; Association of American Railroads, Railroad Facts, 2003

(Washington, DC: 2004); USDOT, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics 2003 (Washington, DC: 

2004), table HM-18; Oil & Gas Journal, Aug. 23, 2004; USDOT, Federal Transit Administration, 2002 National 

Transit Summaries and Trends, table 18 and appendix, available at www.ntdprogram.com; USDOT, BTS, 

 “Airport Activity Statistics of Certifi cated Air Carriers, Summary Tables, 12 Months Ending Dec. 31, 2002,” 

2004; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Institute for Water Resources, Navigation Data Center, The U.S. Waterway System Facts, December 2003 (Alexandria, VA: 2003).
10 FREIGHT IN AMERICA

Commodity Flow Survey Estimates

Major Commodity Groups7

Table 5 presents the value, weight, and tonmiles as well as the relative shares for the major 

CFS commodities shipped by U.S. businesses.8

See box D for the meaning of these estimates in 

7 Most of the fi ndings presented in this section are based on the 

CFS only data. Detailed information on type of commodity is 

not available for all of the supplementary data. Where the commodity information is available (i.e., crude petroleum, municipal 

solid waste, imports and exports) the report uses the data in the 

discussions.

8 The commodities are based on the two-digit Standard Classifi -

cation of Transported Goods (SCTG) coding system. 

the CFS. Because the CFS does not cover several 

important commodities, such as crude petroleum 

pipeline movements and imports and because 

commodity details for sectors such as retail, services, and construction are unavailable, the CFS 

commodity data presented in this section underestimates the true amount of these commodities 

transported over our nation’s freight network.9

9 While BTS has aggregate estimates of the major missing pieces, 

such as imports, crude petroleum, logging, and some of the inscope sectors that are underrepresented in the CFS, further 

analysis of the commodity level out-of-scope retail, service, and 

construction sectors is needed to determine how much of each 

commodity in these sectors were transported. BTS and FHWA are 

continuing to research the supplemental data.

TABLE 3

Modal Breakdown of Composite Estimates of U.S. Commercial Freight: 2002

(Based on composite estimates)1

Transportation mode

Value (billion $) Tons (million) Ton–miles (billion)

CFS 2002 Non CFS Total1 CFS 2002 Non CFS Total1 CFS 2002 Non CFS Total1

All Modes 8,397 4,655 13,052 11,668 7,819 19,487 3,138 1,271 4,409 

Single modes 7,049 4,549 11,599 11,087 7,807 18,894 2,868 1,205 4,073 

Truck2 6,235 2,840 9,075 7,843 3,870 11,712 1,256 259 1,515 

Rail 311 81 392 1,874 105 1,979 1,262 110 1,372 

Water 89 584 673 681 987 1,668 283 202 485 

Air (incl. truck and air) 265 298 563 4 3 6 6 8 13 

Pipeline3 149 747 896 685 2,844 3,529 S 688 688 

Multiple modes 1,079 42 1,121 217 12 229 226 7 233 

Parcel, postal, or courier 988 34 1,022 26 2 27 19 2 21 

Truck and rail 70 7 77 43 9 52 46 5 50 

Other multiple modes4 22 1 22 148 2 150 161 0.5 162 

Unknown modes 269 62 331 365 — 365 44 59 103 

Percent of relative share of total 64.3 35.7 100.0 59.9 40.1 100.0 71.2 28.8 100.0

KEY: — Represents data cell equal to zero or less than 1 unit of measure.

S = Estimate does not meet publication standards because of high sampling variability or poor response quality.

1 These composite estimates include Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) data and out-of-scope shipments for sectors that are not included in 

the CFS such as imports, logging, construction, retail, services, publishing, municipal solid waste, and household and business moves. They 

also include estimates of in-scope shipments for sectors that are covered in CFS but may have been underestimated due to small sample 

size, such as exports, intermodal, and petroleum products. These composite estimates serve as the 2002 benchmark data for the FHWA 

Freight Analysis Framework II.

2 “Truck” as a single mode includes shipments that were made by only private truck, only for-hire truck, or a combination of private and 

for-hire truck.

3 Estimates for pipeline include shipments of crude petroleum.

4 Other multiple modes include combination of truck and water, rail and water, and other combinations.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics and 

U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Commodity Flow Survey, U.S. Data, December 2004, plus sources for composite 

estimates listed in box B. The composite estimates were developed through a cooperative effort by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics 

and the Federal Highway Administration.
FREIGHT IN AMERICA 11

Value 

In 2002, electronic, electrical, and offi ce equipment; mixed freight; and motorized and other 

vehicles, including parts, led the list of commodities covered by the CFS in terms of shipment value 

(table 5). Businesses shipped $891 billion of electronic goods (SCTG 35) in 2002, compared to 

$864 billion in 1997. Mixed freight shipments, 

another leading commodity by value, accounted 

for $840 billion or about 10 percent of the CFS 

shipments in 2002, up from 3.4 percent in 1997. 

Tonnage

By weight, the leading commodity group was 

gravel and crushed stone, a low-value-per-ton 

commodity group that is typically transported 

only short distances (table 5). One out of every six 

tons identifi ed in the CFS was gravel and crushed 

stone. The shipments of 1.9 billion tons were 16 

percent of the weight measured in the 2002 CFS. In 

2002, other leading commodity groups by weight 

included coal, gasoline and aviation fuel, and nonmetallic mineral products. Although gravel and 

crushed stone was 16 percent of total CFS tons, 

shipments in this category accounted for less than 

1 percent of the value and about 3 percent of the 

ton-miles of all CFS shipments, impacting mostly 

local transportation. Gravel and stone shipments 

traveled an average of about 57 miles per ton (fi gure 2).

Ton-Miles

Coal led the list of CFS commodities in terms 

of ton-miles in 2002 (table 5). With 686 billion 

TABLE 4

Percent Shares of the Sectors Covered in the Composite Estimates of U.S. 

Commercial Freight: 2002

Sectors

 Value 

(Percent) 

 Tons 

(Percent) 

 Ton-miles 

(Percent) 

Total composite estimate 100.0 100.0 100.0 

CFS total 64.6 59.9 71.2 

Non-CFS total 35.7 40.1 28.8 

Construction 9.8 4.5 1.3 

Imports 8.9 5.9 6.0 

Natural gas 4.5 9.7 7.8 

Retail 4.4 2.6 0.5 

Services 2.9 1.9 0.7 

Farm-based 1.5 5.4 0.9 

Publishing 1.1 0.2 0.4 

Net exports1

 0.8 0.1 0.1 

Crude petroleum 0.7 4.6 6.5 

Municipal solid waste 0.3 2.5 0.5 

Petroleum products 0.2 0.5 3.5 

Households and business moves 0.1 0.1 0.1 

Logging 0.1 1.9 0.5 

Fisheries — — — 

KEY: — Represents measurement less than one-tenth of one percent.

1 Net exports represent the difference between U.S. offi cial merchandise trade exports and the Commodity Flow Survey estimates. These composite estimates serve as the 2002 benchmark data for the 

FHWA Freight Analysis Framework II.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics and U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, 

2002 Commodity Flow Survey, U.S. Data, December 2004, plus additional composite estimates. The 

composite estimates were developed through a cooperative effort by the Bureau of Transportation 

Statistics and the Federal Highway Administration.
12 FREIGHT IN AMERICA

FIGURE 1

Breakdown of the National Freight Composite Estimates by Data Source and Mode: 2002

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

35.7

64.3

31.3

68.7

20.7

79.3

86.7

13.3

52.9

47.1

83.4

16.6

3.4

96.6

16.3

83.7

All modes

Truck

Rail

Water

Air (incl. truck and air)

Pipeline

Parcel, postal, or courier

Other and unknown modes

Percentage

VALUE

Value: CFS 2002 Value: Non-CFS

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

All modes

Truck

Rail

Water

Air (incl. truck and air)

Pipeline

Parcel, postal, or courier

Other and unknown modes

Percentage

40.1

59.9

33.0

67.0

5.3

94.7

59.2

40.8

40.8

59.2

80.6

19.4

6.3

93.7

1.9

98.1

TONNAGE

Tons: CFS 2002 Tons: Non-CFS

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

All modes

Truck

Rail

Water

Air (incl. truck and air)

Pipeline

Parcel, postal, or courier

Other and unknown modes

Percentage

TON-MILES

Ton-miles: CFS 2002 Ton-miles: Non-CFS

28.8

71.2

17.1

82.9

8.1

91.9

41.7

58.3

56.5

43.5

100.0

10.7

89.3

20.2

79.8

NOTE: These composite estimates include Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) data and out-of-scope shipments for sectors that are not included 

in the CFS such as imports, logging, construction, retail, services, publishing, municipal solid waste, and household and business moves. They 

also include estimates of in-scope shipments for sectors that are covered in the CFS but which may have been underestimated due to small 

sample size, such as for the exports, intermodal, and petroleum products sectors. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics and U.S. 

Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Commodity Flow Survey, U.S. Data, December 2004, plus sources for composite estimates 

listed in box B. The composite estimates were developed through a cooperative effort by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and the 

Federal Highway Administration.
FREIGHT IN AMERICA 13

TABLE 5

Freight Shipments by Two-Digit Commodity: 1997 and 2002 

(Commodity Flow Survey data only)

SCTG Commodity description

Value, tons, and ton-miles Percentage of total

1997 2002 1997 2002

Leading 2002 value (billions)

CFS total 6,860 8,397 100.0 100.0 

35 Electronic, electrical, and offi ce equipment 864 891 12.6 10.6 

43 Mixed freight1 233 840 3.4 10.0 

36 Motorized and other vehicles (including parts) 569 749 8.3 8.9 

34 Machinery 418 484 6.1 5.8 

21 Pharmaceutical products 226 479 3.3 5.7 

30 Textiles, leather, and articles of textiles or leather 377 466 5.5 5.6 

40 Miscellaneous manufactured products 418 387 6.1 4.6 

 7 Other prepared foodstuffs, fats, and oils 343 356 5.0 4.2 

24 Plastics and rubber 281 326 4.1 3.9 

17 Gasoline and aviation turbine fuel 220 279 3.2 3.3 

Leading 2002 tonnage (millions)

CFS total 10,566 11,668 100.0 100.0 

12 Gravel and crushed stone 1,817 1,866 17.2 16.0 

15 Coal 1,215 1,240 11.5 10.6 

17 Gasoline and aviation turbine fuel 877 1,064 8.3 9.1 

31 Nonmetallic mineral products 909 968 8.6 8.3 

 2 Cereal grains 486 561 4.6 4.8 

18 Fuel oils 475 549 4.5 4.7 

11 Natural sands 444 473 4.2 4.1 

 7 Other prepared foodstuffs and fats and oils 402 449 3.8 3.8 

19 Coal and petroleum products, n.e.c. 475 448 4.5 3.8 

20 Basic chemicals 296 348 2.8 3.0 

Leading 2002 ton-miles (billions)

CFS total 2,593 3,138 100.0 100.0 

15 Coal 542 686 20.9 21.9 

 2 Cereal grains 200 264 7.7 8.4 

 7 Other prepared foodstuffs and fats and oils 124 162 4.8 5.1 

31 Nonmetallic mineral products 91 136 3.5 4.3 

32 Base metal in primary or semifi nished forms 

and in fi nished basic shapes

 117 121 4.5 3.9 

26 Wood products 93 120 3.6 3.8 

17 Gasoline and aviation turbine fuel 101 117 3.9 3.7 

20 Basic chemicals 137 116 5.3 3.7 

 3 Other agricultural products 80 109 3.1 3.5 

12 Gravel and crushed stone 93 106 3.6 3.4 

KEY: SCTG = Standard Classifi cation of Transported Goods.

n.e.c. = Not elsewhere classifi ed.

1Mixed freight shipments include: supplies and food for restaurants and fast food chains, items (including 

food) for grocery and convenience stores, hardware or plumbing supplies (not elsewhere classifi ed), offi ce 

supplies, and miscellaneous. 

NOTE: The CFS totals in this table differ from the larger composite estimate totals specifi ed in the text 

and in the tables because they do not include additions to account for the out-of-scope missing pieces 

and some in-scope segments that were underrepresented in the CFS, such as waterborne and pipeline 

shipments. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau 

of Transportation Statistics, based on data from the 1997 and 2002 Commodity Flow Survey, December 

2004.
14 FREIGHT IN AMERICA

ton-miles in 2002, coal accounted for about 22 

percent of all CFS ton-miles and more than twice 

the ton-miles of cereal grains, the second leading 

commodity group (table 5). Coal and cereal grains 

were followed by prepared foodstuffs, nonmetallic 

mineral and products, and base metals. Coal generated the most ton-miles because, unlike gravel 

and stone which tends to be produced and used in 

the same locale, coal production is concentrated 

in relatively few areas and is often shipped long 

distances. For example, coal mined in Wyoming 

is transported nationwide, to coal-fi red power 

plants in particular states, and to export locations.10 In 2002, a ton of coal was shipped 554 

10 Coal from Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia is consumed almost entirely east of the Mississippi River.

miles on average, far above the 269 average miles 

per ton for all commodities (fi gure 2). 

Hazardous Materials Shipments

Hazardous materials shipments move by truck, 

train, vessel, and airplane in quantities ranging from several ounces to thousands of tons. In 

the United States, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT’s) Pipeline and Hazardous 

Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has 

responsibility for the safe transportation of hazardous materials to industry and consumers by 

all transportation modes, including the nation’s 

pipelines. Hazardous materials are essential to the 

U.S. and global economy. They include fossil fuels 

used in cars, trucks, power plants, and heating and 

cooling homes and offi ces, as well as petrochemiBOX D

Interpreting Value, Tons, and Ton-Miles in the Commodity Flow Survey

Value of shipments. The CFS defi nes the value of shipments as 

the market value in dollars of goods shipped by businesses. It represents the net selling value, excluding freight charges and taxes. CFS 

measures the value of shipments of materials used to produce or 

manufacture a product and the value of shipments of the fi nished 

product. This means that the value of the intermediate materials 

used to produce a particular product could contribute multiple 

times to the value if it is shipped multiple times during the survey 

year. For example, if a $1,000 product is shipped from a manufacturer in Boston, MA to a distributor in Washington, DC, who ships 

it to a wholesaler in Chicago, IL, who then ships it to a retail outlet in Los Angeles, CA, the value of the shipment 

(product) is counted three times if the manufacturer, distributor, and wholesaler are sampled by the CFS. Each shipment is counted to represent each transportation movement (solid lines in the map). The same product is counted 

only once, however, if it is directly shipped from the manufacturer in Boston to the retailer in Los Angeles (dotted 

line in the map).

Tonnage of shipments. This represents the total weight of a shipment. Businesses report the entire weight of a 

shipment in pounds. As with value of shipments above, the tonnage of a product could be counted multiple times 

depending on the number of times the product is transported in the production and consumption cycle.

Ton-miles. Ton-miles measure the shipment weight multiplied by the mileage traveled by the shipment. Businesses 

report shipment weight in pounds. Aggregated pound-miles were converted to ton-miles. Mileage is calculated as 

the distance between the shipment origin and destination ZIP Codes. For all shipments, the CFS mileage excludes 

the international portion of the distance, starting from the fi nal U.S. port of exit. For example, mileages from Alaska 

to the continental United States exclude any mileages through Canada. And air shipments from Denver, Colorado 

to Japan exclude the mileage over U.S. airspace from the airport in Denver. Unlike value and tonnage, the CFS total 

for ton-miles is not subject to multiple counting because the number of times goods are shipped does not affect the 

calculations.

For additional information, visit http://www.bts.gov/cfs.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation 

Statistics based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics and U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, 2002 Economic Census: 

Transportation 2002 Commodity Flow Survey, United States 2002. December 2004; and examples from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Boston, MA

Example of Shipment Flow

Los Angeles

Chicago

Washington, DC
FREIGHT IN AMERICA 15

FIGURE 2

Average Length of Haul by Major Commodity Group: 2002

(Commodity Flow Survey data only)

Total CFS goods

Metallic ores and concentrates

Textiles, leather, and articles of textiles or leather

Electronic and other electrical equipment and components and office equipment

Transportation equipment, n.e.c.

Plastics and rubber

Pulp, newsprint, paper, and paperboard

Coal

Machinery

Chemical products and preparations, n.e.c.

Printed products

Meat, fish, seafood, and their preparations

Cereal grains

Pharmaceutical products

Milled grain products and preparations, and bakery products

Motorized and other vehicles (including parts)

Miscellaneous manufactured products

Other agricultural products

Furniture, mattresses and mattress supports, lamps, lighting fittings, and...

Base metal in primary or semifinished forms and in finished basic shapes

Articles of base metal

Other prepared foodstuffs and fats and oils

Wood products

Paper or paperboard articles

Basic chemicals

Fertilizers

Nonmetallic minerals n.e.c.

Alcoholic beverages

Live animals and live fish

Tobacco products

Animal feed and products of animal origin, n.e.c.

Waste and scrap

Precision instruments and apparatus

Coal and petroleum products, n.e.c.

Mixed freight

Nonmetallic mineral products

Gasoline and aviation turbine fuel

Fuel oils

Monumental or building stone

Natural sands

Gravel and crushed stone

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700

Average number of miles per ton hauled

57

63

70

101

110

140

176

208

213

221

224

225

259

288

307

331

334

338

347

360

367

370

421

422

435

444

448

467

471

489

501

506

545

554

570

577

580

610

620

641

269

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 

based on data from the 2002 Commodity Flow Survey, December 2004. 
16 FREIGHT IN AMERICA

cal feedstock. And they are also used for farming 

and medical applications and in manufacturing, 

mining, and other industrial processes. 

According to Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) 

data, there were 2.2 billion tons of hazardous 

materials shipments in the United States in 2002 

(table 6). Trucks carried about 53 percent of this 

CFS tonnage. Pipelines carried 660 million tons 

of shipments or roughly 30 percent of total tonnage of hazardous shipments measured in the 

2002 CFS. However, the CFS does not include 

crude petroleum shipments. The U.S. Department 

of Transportation categorizes hazardous materials 

into nine hazard classes.11 By weight, trucks car11 The hazardous materials classes are: Class 1 Explosives, Class 

2 Gases, Class 3 Flammable liquids, Class 4 Flammable solids, 

Class 5 Oxidizers and organic peroxides, Class 6 Toxic materials 

and infectious substances, Class 7 Radioactive materials, Class 

8 Corrosive materials, and Class 9 Miscellaneous dangerous 

goods.

ried 93 percent of Class 1 explosives, 53 percent 

of Class 3 fl ammable liquids, and 45 percent of 

Class 2 gases in 2002 (table 7). 

Safety and security are key matters in providing 

hazardous materials transportation services, with 

shipments traveling through major metropolitan 

areas posing special challenges. While the overwhelming majority of shipments arrive without 

incident, hazardous material shipments sent by 

pipelines, truck, and trains are vulnerable to accident or attack. 

The USDOT reviews government and industry hazardous materials transportation safety and 

security programs. Since September 2001, the 

hazardous materials shipment industry and the 

federal government have been implementing a 

“layered” system of measures affecting shippers, 

carriers, and drivers to reduce associated security 

risks. This system involves incident prevention, 

TABLE 6

Hazardous Material Shipment Characteristics by Mode of Transportation: 2002

(Commodity Flow Survey data only)

Mode of transportation

Value Tons Ton-miles

2002 

(million $) Percent

2002 

(thousands) Percent

2002 

(millions) Percent

All modes 660,181 100.0 2,191,519 100.0 326,727 100.0 

Single modes 644,489 97.6 2,158,533 98.5 311,897 95.5 

Truck1 419,630 63.6 1,159,514 52.9 110,163 33.7 

 For-hire truck 189,803 28.8 449,503 20.5 65,112 19.9 

 Private truck 226,660 34.3 702,186 32.0 44,087 13.5 

Rail 31,339 4.7 109,369 5.0 72,087 22.1 

Water 46,856 7.1 228,197 10.4 70,649 21.6 

Air (includes truck and air) 1,643 0.2 64 — 85 — 

Pipeline2 145,021 22.0 661,390 30.2 S S 

Multiple modes 9,631 1.5 18,745 0.9 12,488 3.8 

Parcel, postal, or courier 4,268 0.6 245 — 119 — 

Other multiple modes 5,363 0.8 18,500 0.8 12,369 3.8 

Other and unknown modes 6,061 0.9 14,241 0.6 2,342 0.7 

KEY: — Represents an estimate equal to zero or less than 1 unit of measure. 

S = Estimate does not meet publication standards because of high sampling variability or poor response 

quality.

1 “Truck” as a single mode includes shipments that were made by only private truck, only for-hire truck, or a 

combination of private and for-hire truck. 

2 Estimates for pipeline exclude shipments of crude petroleum.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau 

of Transportation Statistics, and U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Commodity Flow Survey, Hazmat Data, December 

2004.
FREIGHT IN AMERICA 17

TABLE 7

Hazardous Material Shipment by Hazard Class and Mode of

Transportation: 2002

(Commodity Flow Survey data only)

Hazard class

Transportation 

mode

Tons 

(thousands)

Tons 

(Percent)

Class 1, Explosives Pipeline2 — — 

Rail 352 7.0 

Truck1 4,631 92.6 

Water — — 

Class 2, Gases Pipeline2 78,857 37.0 

Rail 29,230 13.7 

Truck1 96,865 45.4 

Water 7,133 3.3 

Class 3, Flammable liquids Pipeline2 576,739 32.2 

Rail 36,083 2.0 

Truck1 948,619 53.0 

Water 199,304 11.1 

Class 4, Flammable solids Pipeline2 — — 

Rail 3,157 27.9 

Truck1 6,711 59.4 

Water 1,263 11.2 

Class 5, Oxidizers and organic peroxides Pipeline2 — — 

Rail 2,430 19.2 

Truck1 9,870 77.9 

Water — —

Class 6, Toxic materials and infectious substances Pipeline2 1,753 20.7 

Rail 1,908 22.6 

Truck1 2,255 26.7 

Water 2,325 27.5 

Class 7, Radioactive materials Pipeline2 — — 

Rail — — 

Truck1 52 91.0 

Water — — 

Class 8, Corrosive materials Pipeline2 3,959 4.4 

Rail 23,949 26.4 

Truck1 51,385 56.7 

Water 9,552 10.5 

Class 9, Miscellaneous dangerous goods Pipeline2 — — 

Rail 12,260 20.1 

Truck1 39,126 64.1 

Water 8,619 14.1 

KEY: — Represents an estimate equal to zero or less than 1 unit of measure. 

S = Estimate does not meet publication standards because of high sampling variability or poor response 

quality. 

1 “Truck” as a single mode includes shipments that were made by only private truck, only for-hire truck, or a 

combination of private and for-hire truck. 

2 Estimates for pipeline exclude shipments of crude petroleum. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau 

of Transportation Statistics and U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Commodity Flow Survey, Hazmat Data, table 6a. 

December 2004. 
18 FREIGHT IN AMERICA

preparedness, and response. The USDOT and 

Department of Homeland Security have taken 

steps to enhance the security of hazardous materials transportation.12 For example, the USDOT 

requires shippers and carriers to implement security plans regarding specifi ed hazardous materials transportation. The USDOT grants encourage 

state and some local governmental personnel to 

conduct hazmat inspections and to plan and train 

for spills of these materials.

Distance Traveled13

Most U.S. freight shipments by value and tonnage move less than 250 miles. In 2002, more 

12 Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress. 

Transportation Security: Issues 109th Congress. http://www.mipt.

org/pdf/CRS_IB10135.pdf

13 These fi ndings are based on the CFS only data. Distance of 

shipment information is not available for the non-CFS data.

than three-quarters (77 percent) of the weight (9 

billion tons) of all CFS shipments and over half 

the value ($4.6 trillion), moved in local and shorthaul shipments that are critical to metropolitan 

area economies, using local roads, tracks, and 

facilities (fi gure 3). But goods that move longer 

distances—more than 250 miles—carried 82 percent of CFS ton-miles, a slight increase from 80 

percent in 1993. By weight, only 5 percent of shipments travel more than 1,000 miles. Nevertheless 

these shipments carried nearly one-third (32 percent) of the ton-miles in 2002, an increase from 

29 percent in 1993. These longer haul shipments 

were transported an average of 1,780 miles per 

ton in 2002. 

The distance shipped per ton varies greatly by 

commodity type. Longer haul shipments, on average, had a much higher value per ton than local and 

short-haul shipments (fi gure 4). The average value 

FIGURE 3

U.S. Freight Shipments by Distance Shipped: 1993 and 2002

(Commodity Flow Survey data only)

Value ‘93 Value ‘02 Tons ‘93 Tons ‘02 Ton-miles ‘93 Ton-miles ‘02

0

20

40

60

80

100

Percentage share

Under 250 miles 250 miles or more

55.3

44.7

54.6

45.3

78.8

21.2

76.9

23.1

20.2

79.8

18.1

81.8

NOTE: Shipments are grouped into distance categories based on Great Circle Distance (GCD), which is the 

shortest distance between 2 points on the surface of a sphere. Ton-miles estimates are based on estimated 

distances traveled along a modeled transportation network. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of 

Transportation Statistics, based on data from the 1993 and 2002 Commodity Flow Survey, December 2004. 
FREIGHT IN AMERICA 19

of long-haul shipments (more than 250 miles) was 

much higher ($1,400 per ton in 2002) than goods 

shipped less than 250 miles ($500 per ton). For 

example, goods that moved 1,000 or more miles 

in 2002 had an average value of over $2,000 per 

ton, compared with an average of $430 per ton 

for goods shipped less than 100 miles. 

Shipment Weight14

Growth in parcel and express courier services 

and an increase in consumer purchases over the 

Internet are infl uencing shipment size and contributing to a rise in smaller sized shipments. 

Lower weight shipments (less than 500 pounds) 

accounted for a 25 percent share of the value of 

14 These fi ndings are based on the CFS only data. Shipment size 

information is not available for the non-CFS data.

all CFS shipments and grew 53 percent by value 

between 1993 and 2002 (table 8). Of the lower 

weight shipments, those weighing less than 100 

pounds grew even faster—65 percent by value. 

These lower weight shipments are often highvalue, time-sensitive commodities and are mostly 

transported by express or parcel, postal, and courier services. 

Between 1993 and 2002, lower weight shipments grew only 8 percent by weight but 29 percent by ton-miles, refl ecting both increased length 

of haul and increased frequency of shipments. In 

2002, shipments of less than 500 pounds were 

transported 312 miles per ton on average, up 19 

percent from 1993. By contrast, the average for 

shipments of 10,000 pounds or more was 270 

miles per ton in 2002, just 7 percent higher than 

in 1993.

FIGURE 4

Value Per Ton of Shipments by Distance Shipped: 1993 and 2002

(Commodity Flow Survey data only)

All distances Less than 100 100 to 249 250 to 999 1,000 or more

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

1993 2002

Value per ton (current dollars)

Distance shipped (miles based on Great Circle Distance)

600

720

356

435

808

896

1,065

1,231

1,968

2,088

NOTE: Shipments are grouped into distance categories based on Great Circle Distance (GCD), which is the 

shortest distance between 2 points on the surface of a sphere. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of 

Transportation Statistics, based on data from the 1993 and 2002 Commodity Flow Survey, December 2004. 
20 FREIGHT IN AMERICA

Heavier shipments (over 50,000 pounds) comprised 65 percent of the CFS ton-miles and 55 

percent of tons shipped, but only 12 percent of 

the value of shipments in 2002, relatively similar 

to the 1993 and 1997 proportions. During the 

decade, such shipments grew 24 percent by tonmiles, 13 percent by weight, and 35 percent by 

value. As the number of larger sized shipments 

increase, their impact on our roads, rail tracks, 

and ports can be expected to rise. 

Beyond Composite Estimates and 

the Commodity Flow Survey

Growth in Nation’s Freight Shipments 

In this section, data were compiled from several 

sources to provide a current view of the trends in 

freight fl ows. Sources used, other than the CFS and 

the new composite estimates, include data from 

the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and from the 

U.S. Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau. 

Figure 5 shows that between 1980 and 2004, 

the nation’s freight ton-miles by all freight modes 

steadily increased, rising at an average annual 

growth rate of about 1.2 percent per year. This 

overall ton-mile information is not part of the 

composite estimates developed to complement the 

2002 CFS. They are based on a separate BTS effort 

to improve available trend data on the nation’s 

overall ton-miles by mode going back to 1960. See 

the source on fi gure 2 for additional information.

The growth in freight movements refl ects U.S. 

economic growth, an increase in U.S.-international 

merchandise trade, improvements in freight sector 

productivity, and the availability of an extensive 

multimodal transportation network in the United 

States. 

Between 1980 and 2004, domestic air cargo 

(freight, express, and mail) had the most rapid 

growth rate among modes in ton-miles (fi gure 6). 

Air ton-miles increased more than threefold from 

5 billion to nearly 17 billion revenue ton-miles. 

TABLE 8

Freight Shipments by Shipment Weight: 1993 and 2002

(Commodity Flow Survey data only)

Shipment weight

Value (billions $) Value (percent share) Percent change, 

1993 2002 1993 2002 1993-2002

Less than 500 pounds 1,368 2,099 23.4 25.0 53.4

500 to 999 pounds 319 430 5.5 5.1 34.9

1,000 to 49,999 pounds 3,411 4,857 58.3 57.8 42.4

50,000 pounds or more 749 1,012 12.8 12.0 35.1

All shipment sizes 5,846 8,397 100.0 100.0 43.6

Tons (millions) Tons (percent share)

Less than 500 pounds 109 118 1.1 1.0 8.0

500 to 999 pounds 65 77 0.7 0.7 18.8

1,000 to 49,999 pounds 3,830 5,068 39.5 43.4 32.3

50,000 pounds or more 5,685 6,405 58.7 54.9 12.7

All shipment sizes 9,688 11,668 100.0 100.0 20.4

Ton-miles (billions) Ton-miles (percent share)

Less than 500 pounds 29 37 1.2 1.2 28.9

500 to 999 pounds 13 17 0.6 0.6 28.0

1,000 to 49,999 pounds 728 1,038 30.1 33.1 42.6

50,000 pounds or more 1,651 2,046 68.2 65.2 23.9

All shipment sizes 2,421 3,138 100.0 100.0 29.6

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of 

Transportation Statistics, based on data from the 1993 and 2002 Commodity Flow Survey, December 2004.
FREIGHT IN AMERICA 21

Intercity trucking and railroads grew at a lesser 

rate and oil pipelines remained steady. Maritime 

ton-miles continued to decline, largely refl ecting 

the reduction in crude petroleum shipments by 

water transportation from Alaska. While domestic waterborne ton-miles declined, U.S.-international waterborne transportation grew by about 

15 percent during this period. 

Domestic demand for air cargo service grew the 

most rapidly largely refl ecting growth in all-cargo 

carriers15, which accounted for more than twothirds of the domestic air revenue ton-miles in 

2004, expanded services. Federal Express, United 

Parcel Service, and DHL are the leading all-cargo 

carriers and provide intermodal freight services. 

15 These are carriers that transport only cargo, unlike passenger 

air carriers that mostly carry people but also carry goods, such as 

expedited packages, mail, etc., in their aircraft cargo holds.

See the section on multimodal shipments16 for further discussion of recent trends in express freight. 

While air cargo grew at a faster pace than the 

other modes, truck and rail moved far greater tonnage and generated more ton-miles. The number 

of trucks used in commercial transportation (both 

single unit and tractor trailer combination) rose 37 

percent between 1980 and 2002, increasing from 

5.8 million to 7.9 million (table 9). Commercial 

trucks also traveled more vehicle miles, averaging 

about 27,000 miles per truck in 2002 compared to 

16 In this report, the term “multimodal” refers to shipments 

transported by a combination of modes, including parcel, courier, and postal services, truck and rail, truck and water, rail and 

water, and other modal combinations. Multimodal also could be 

used to describe air-truck combinations, but, because nearly all 

air shipments also involve truck before and after the air leg of the 

shipment, it is common to refer to air as a single mode. As used in 

this report, multimodal is different from intermodal which is used 

in this report to describe the traditional truck and rail combination only. 

FIGURE 5

Growth in U.S. Domestic Freight Ton-Miles: 1980-2004

1980

1981198219831984198519861987

19881989

1990199119921993199419951996

1997

19981999

200020012002

20032004

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

Billions of ton-miles

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of 

Transportation Statistics: 1990-2003 data from the Journal of Transportation and Statistics, vol. 8, no. 1, 2005, 

Scott M. Dennis, “Improved Estimates of Ton-Miles,” pp 23-44; other data are special tabulations from BTS 

using the same methodology.
22 FREIGHT IN AMERICA

19,000 miles per truck in 1980. Nationwide, the 

total vehicle miles of travel by single-unit trucks 

grew from 40 billion miles to 76 billion miles in 

2002. The vehicle miles traveled by combination 

trucks doubled from 69 million to 139 million, 

during this period (USDOT FHWA 2003). 

During the same period, Class I freight rail carmiles reached over 35 billion in 2003, up from 

29 billion in 1980. Also, the average miles traveled annually per rail car more than tripled from 

25,000 to 76,000. Rail hauls bulk commodities, 

such as grain and coal, over long distances as well 

as time-sensitive commodities, such as automobiles and parts, to domestic markets and to industrial plants in the United States and in Canada 

and Mexico, our top trading partners. Refrigerated rail cars can be used to transport perishable 

produce on tight schedules. The intermodal segment of the rail industry moves a wide assortment 

of goods from imported seasonal toys to lawn 

mowers, bicycles, and computers. Maritime vessels generated over 714 billion ton-miles in 2003, 

carrying bulky commodities such as wheat and 

other grains, ores and heavy metals, and fi nished 

products like automobiles and imported merchandise. About 85 percent, or 606 billion, of the 

waterborne ton-miles in 2003 was from domestic 

movements, a proportion that has dropped considerably since 1980. Back then, domestic shipments 

accounted for 91 percent (921 billion) of the over 

1 trillion total maritime ton-miles (USACE 2004 

and 1994).

This growth in the U.S. freight system use 

places pressure on transportation facilities arising 

from congestion, delays, capacity management, 

and operational bottlenecks, and it impacts the 

individual modes as well as multimodal freight 

movements. For example, according to the Federal Highway Administration, between 1980 and 

2002, truck travel grew by more than 90 percent 

while lane-miles of public roads increased by only 

5 percent (USDOT FHWA 2004). Also, over the 

FIGURE 6

Growth in U.S. Domestic Freight Ton-Miles by Mode: 1980-2004

1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Index: 1980 = 100

Air carrier - domestic

Truck - intercity

Rail

Total - all modes

Oil pipeline

Water - domestic

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of 

Transportation Statistics: 1990-2003 data from the Journal of Transportation and Statistics, vol. 8, no.1, 2005, 

Scott M. Dennis, “Improved Estimates of Ton-Miles,” pp 23-36; other data are special tabulations from BTS 

using the same methodology. 
FREIGHT IN AMERICA 23

past two decades as the rail industry consolidated, 

the mileage of rail roads operated by the remaining 

Class I railroads sharply declined from 165,000 

miles in 1980 to about 99,000 miles in 2004 

(AAR 2005a and 2005b).17 Despite the reduction 

in rail line stemming from the consolidation and 

mergers, rail freight tons originated rose 24 percent between 1980 and 2004, leading to industrywide productivity growth. The continued overall 

growth in the use of the national freight network, 

relative to the infrastructure extent, could pose 

operational and performance challenges for goods 

movement. FHWA forecasts that freight volumes 

are expected to increase greatly by the year 2020, 

17 Miles of rail roads is the aggregate length of roadway, excluding yard tracks and sidings, and does not refl ect the fact that a 

mile of road may include two, three, or more parallel tracks. The 

number of rail tracks owned declined from 271,000 miles in 1980 

to under 169,000 in 2004.

further straining system capacity, reliability, and 

productivity (USDOT FHWA 2004).18

Behind the Modal Trends 

As the value of shipments has increased over 

time, changes have occurred in the national pattern of mode selection. The rising need for quicker 

deliveries of high-value products on time-defi nite 

schedules has led to the rapid growth in the value 

of air shipments, which as measured in the 2002 

CFS grew by 90 percent from $141 billion in 1993 

to $264 billion in 2002 in infl ation-adjusted 2000 

dollars (table 10). During this same period, the 

value of parcel, postal, and courier shipments, 

18 FHWA’s Freight Analysis Framework, a database and policy 

analysis tool, projects that between 1998 and 2020, U.S. freight 

tonnage is expected to grow by 70 percent and the value of freight 

shipments is expected to more than triple to nearly $30 trillion 

(USDOT FHWA 2004, Freight Facts and Figures 2004).

TABLE 9

Number of Vehicles, Aircraft, Railcars, and Vessels

1980 1990 2000 2002

Highway

Truck, single-unit 2-axle 6-tire or more 4,373,784 4,486,981 5,926,030 5,650,619

Truck, combination 1,416,869 1,708,895 2,096,619 2,276,661

Truck, total 5,790,653 6,195,876 8,022,649 7,927,280

Air

Air carriers 3,808 6,083 8,055 8,194

Rail

Class I, locomotive 28,094 18,835 20,028 20,506

Class I, freight cars1 1,168,114 658,902 560,154 477,751

Nonclass I freight cars1 102,161 103,527 132,448 130,590

Railcar companies and shippers freight cars1 440,552 449,832 688,194 691,329

Water 38,788 39,445 41,354 41,002

Nonself-propelled vessels2 31,662 31,209 33,152 32,381

Self-propelled vessels3 7,126 8,236 8,202 8,621

 Oceangoing steam and motor ships4 864 636 454 426

1 Beginning with 2001 data, Canadian-owned U.S. railroads are excluded. This accounted for about 47,000 

cars in 2000.

2 Nonself-propelled vessels include dry-cargo barges, tank barges, and railroad-car fl oats.

3 Self-propelled vessels include dry cargo, passenger, off-shore support, tankers, and towboats.

4 1,000 gross tons and over. This fi gure is included in self-propelled vessels.

SOURCE: Various sources, as cited in U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, National Transportation Statistics 2005, table 1-11, 

available at http://www.bts.gov. 
24 FREIGHT IN AMERICA

which are transported predominately by air and 

truck, grew 75 percent from $563 billion to $986 

billion. 

Heavy, low-value commodities are mostly transported at lower unit costs by rail and water modes. 

In 2002, according to the composite estimates, rail 

shipments were valued at $198 per ton on average 

compared to $401 per ton for water and $775 per 

ton for truck. Shipments by multimodal combinations were valued on average at approximately 

$4,892 per ton, and air-truck shipments averaged 

more than $88,618 per ton (table 11). The variation in the modal averages refl ects the wide variation in the range of commodities moved by each 

of the modes. For example, trucks haul goods 

ranging from gravel and crushed stones, coal, and 

grain to electronic equipment, refrigerated perishables, pharmaceuticals, and gasoline. 

Trucking

According to the composite estimates, trucking as a single mode was the most frequently used 

mode, accounting for an estimated 70 percent of 

the total value, 60 percent of the weight, and 34 

percent of the ton-miles.19 In 2002, the trucking 

industry, both for-hire and private own-use, transported over $9 trillion worth of shipments, weighing over 11 billion tons and generating about 1.5 

trillion ton-miles (table 3). Measured by ton-miles, 

trucking was followed by rail at 31 percent, pipeline at 15, and water with 11 percent. Trucking’s 

modal share by ton-miles has grown as manufacturing and services, rather than bulk commodity 

producing sectors such as agriculture and min19 The relative modal shares of ton-miles depend on how “multimodal” shipments are measured. Rail moves a slightly larger share 

when intermodal truck-rail shipments are counted in its totals.

TABLE 10

Commodity Flow Survey Shipments by Transportation Mode: 1993 and 2002

(CFS Data Only)

Transportation mode

Value (billion infl ation-adjusted 

2000 $) Tons (millions) Ton–miles (billions)

1993 2002

Percent 

change 1993 2002

Percent 

change 1993 2002

Percent 

change

All modes 5,862 8,382 43.0 9,688 11,668 20.4 2,421 3,138 29.6

Single modes 4,953 7,037 42.1 8,923 11,087 24.2 2,138 2,868 34.2

Truck1 4,414 6,224 41.0 6,385 7,843 22.8 869 1,256 44.5

Rail 246 310 26.1 1,540 1,874 21.6 942 1,262 34.0

Water 64 89 38.3 504 681 35.2 271 283 4.2

Air (incl. truck and air) 141 264 88.0 — 4 NA 5 6 20.5

Pipeline2 88 149 69.4 484 685 41.4 S S NA

Multiple modes 662 1,077 62.6 223 217 –2.8 191 226 18.0

Parcel, postal, or courier 563 986 75.2 19 26 31.7 12 19 57.0

Truck and rail 82 S S 39 43 10.9 39 46 17.5

Other multiple modes 12 21 S 165 148 S S 161 S

Other and unknown modes 240 268 11.6 543 365 –32.8 92 44 –51.9

NOTE: The 2002 value data in this table are adjusted for infl ation to allow comparison with the 1993 data and, hence, they are different 

from data in table 3, which are in current dollars.

KEY: — Represents data cell equal to zero or less than 1 unit of measure.

S = Estimate does not meet publication standards because of high sampling variability or poor response quality.

NA = Not applicable.

1 “Truck” as a single mode includes shipments that were made by only private truck, only for-hire truck, or a combination of the two.

2 CFS estimates for pipeline exclude shipments of crude petroleum.

3 Other multiple modes include combination of truck and water, rail and water, and other combinations.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics and 

U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Commodity Flow Survey, U.S. Data, December 2004. 
FREIGHT IN AMERICA 25

ing, have increased their combined share of the 

nation’s economic activities. Manufactured goods 

tend to be higher in value per ton than farming 

and mining products (e.g., grain and coal).

In recent years, as trucking maintained its 

dominance, the number of trucks traveling on the 

nation’s highways steadily increased and the truck 

fl eet mix changed. While two-axle single-unit 

trucks are the most common commercial trucks on 

the nation’s roads, the number of larger combination trucks grew at a much faster rate, increasing 

about 59 percent over this period, compared to 30 

percent for single-unit trucks (fi gure 7). In 2003, 

combination trucks accounted for 28 percent of 

the commercial truck fl eet, up from 24 percent in 

1980. These larger trucks also travel more miles per 

vehicle than the single-unit trucks. 

Combination trucks generated a 

total of 138 billion vehicle-miles of 

travel (VMT) in 2003, compared to 

78 billion miles by single-unit trucks 

(fi gure 8). Since 1980, overall truck 

vehicle-miles have doubled from 

108 billion to 216 billion in 2003. 

Despite this growth in truck VMT, 

commercial truck’s share of total 

highway vehicle-miles remained 

steady, hovering between 7.1 and 

7.5 percent over this period. This 

was primarily because travel by all

highway vehicles, including passenger cars, buses, and light trucks 

(e.g., pickup trucks, sport utility 

vehicles, and minivans) also grew at 

a similar pace. 

Railroad

In 2004, Class I railroads in the 

United States transported the highest originating tonnage ever, 1.8 

billion tons (AAR 2005a).20 This 

record level tonnage refl ects steady 

growth in rail traffi c for six straight 

years, since 1998. Coal accounted 

for 43 percent of the rail tonnage 

in 2004, followed by chemicals and 

related products with 9 percent, 

and farm products and non-metallic products with 8 percent each. 

By revenue, coal accounted for 20 

percent ($8.4 billion) of the Class 

I rail industry-wide gross revenues 

($41.6 billion), followed by miscellaneous mixed 

shipments (mostly intermodal) with 15 percent, 

and chemicals and related products with 12 percent (AAR 2005a). 

U.S. freight trains are carrying more loads and 

traveling farther than in 1980. The average freight 

train carried over 3,100 tons of freight in 2004, 

20 This fi gure differs from the composite and CFS fi gures in tables 

1, 3, and 6 because they represent only Class I railroads. U.S. 

Class I railroads are line haul freight railroads with operating revenue in excess of $278 million. In 2004, the seven U.S. Class I railroads were: BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Grand Trunk 

Corporation, Kansas City Southern Railway, Norfolk Southern 

Railroad, Soo Line Railroad, and Union Pacifi c Railroad (AAR 

2005). The Class I railroads accounted for about 71 percent of 

industry road miles operated and 93 percent of the total rail 

freight revenues. 

TABLE 11

Value Per Ton of U.S. Freight Shipments by Transportation 

Mode: 2002

Transportation mode Value per ton (dollars)

All Modes1 667 

Multiple modes 4,892 

Single modes 611 

Air (incl. truck and air) 88,618 

Parcel, USPS, or courier 37,538 

Truck and rail 1,480 

Truck2 775 

Water 401 

Pipeline3 241 

Rail 198 

Other multiple modes4 148 

Unknown modes 908 

1 These composite estimates include the Commodity Flow Survey and non-CFS 

sectors such as imports, logging, construction, retail, services, publishing, municipal 

solid waste, and household and business moves. They also include estimates of 

in-scope shipments for sectors that are covered in CFS but may have been underestimated due to small sample size, such as exports, intermodal, and petroleum 

products. These composite estimates serve as the 2002 benchmark data for the 

FHWA Freight Analysis Framework II.

2 “Truck” as a single mode includes shipments that were made by private truck only, 

for-hire truck only, or a combination of private and for-hire truck.

3 Estimates for pipeline include shipments of crude petroleum.

4 Other multiple modes includes truck and water, rail and water, and other combinations.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology 

Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics and U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Commodity Flow Survey, U.S. Data, December 2004, 

plus additional composite estimates. The composite estimates were developed 

through a cooperative effort by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and the 

Federal Highway Administration.
26 FREIGHT IN AMERICA

also a record high for the rail industry. By comparison, the average train load in 1980 was about 

2,200 tons. While the average load per train rose, 

the average cargo weight per rail car dropped from 

67 tons in 1980 to 61 tons in 2004, refl ecting the 

higher growth rate of lighter freight that is typical 

of intermodal shipments. During this same period, 

the freight trains traveled more miles on average. 

The average length of haul was 902 miles per ton 

in 2004, up from 616 miles per ton in 1980. Since 

1980, the length of haul has grown at an average 

annual rate of about 1.6 percent per year. Railroads improved on their operational effi ciency as 

they carried more loads farther. Net ton-miles per 

train-hour,21 one measure of industry effi ciency, 

21 This is a measure of the number of tons hauled and the miles 

traveled during an average hour of freight train’s operation. The 

peak for net ton-miles per train-hour was in 1991 when the 

industry averaged about 66,300 ton-miles every train hour (AAR 

2004).

increased 49 percent from 40,400 in 1980 to 

60,300 in 2003 (AAR 2005b).

U.S. freight railroads serve almost every economic sector in the nation that handles goods, 

including manufacturing, mining, wholesale, and 

retail trade. They move not only bulk commodities but also time-sensitive goods. According to 

the composite estimates, rail as a single mode 

carried about 3 percent of nation’s freight shipments, measured by value, and 10 percent of the 

weight, hauling over long distances everything 

from coal to vegetables, lumber to orange juice, 

and fi nished automobiles and parts to grain (table 

1). Rail accounted for 31 percent of the estimated 

total ton-miles, despite having a more spatially 

concentrated network than the highway system 

and in spite of declines in miles of rail roadway 

operated due to rail abandonment and industry 

FIGURE 7

Number of Commercial Trucks on U.S. Highways: 1980, 1990, 2003

Truck, single-unit 

2-axle 6-tire or more

Truck, combination Truck, total

0

2

4

6

8

10

1980 1990 2003

Millions of trucks

4.4 4.5

5.7

1.4

1.7

2.2

5.8

6.2

7.9

NOTE: Total trucks exclude light trucks such as pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles, and minivans. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau 

of Transportation Statistics, National Transportation Statistics 2005, available at http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/ as of August 2005. 
FREIGHT IN AMERICA 27

consolidation.22 Rail’s shares of overall shipment 

value and weight primarily refl ect the fact that low 

value-per-ton primary raw materials like metallic 

ores (e.g., bauxite), logs and wood products, and 

grains account for the bulk of rail shipments. Coal 

and chemicals alone accounted for over half (52 

percent) of the rail tonnage in 2004 (AAR 2005a). 

Rail’s share of ton-miles refl ects the high weight 

and the longer length of haul of the products 

moved by rail. For example, in 2002, coal was 

shipped an average of 671 miles per ton, cereal 

grain averaged 841 miles per ton, and fertilizers 

about 747 miles per ton (table 12).

Some of the largest rail freight fl ows by tonnage are coal shipments originating in the Powder 

River Basin in Wyoming and from West Virginia, 

Illinois, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania. These are 

vital economic fl ows because the vast majority 

of coal shipments are to coal-fi red power plants 

22 Miles of rail roadway have been declining for decades. In 2004, 

Class I railroads operated about 99,000 miles of rail roadways, 

down from about 160,000 miles in 1980. 

for generating electricity. In 2003, these fi ve states 

accounted for more than three-quarters (79 percent) of the total tonnage of coal originations 

(table 13). In 2003, the leading states for total rail 

tons originated included Wyoming, Illinois, West 

Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky. The leading 

states by tons terminated included Texas, Illinois, 

Florida, Ohio, and California (fi gure 9).

Waterborne

In 2003, 9 out of the top 20 freight gateways in 

America (land, sea, and air), in terms of value of 

U.S.-international merchandise freight, were maritime seaports. The leading overall freight gateway 

by value was the Port of Los Angeles, with $122 

billion of trade. Port of Houston was the leading port by weight, handling about 126 million 

tons of import and export cargo in 2003 (USDOT 

BTS 2004). Maritime ports serve the international 

trade needs of every state, both coastal states with 

seaports as well as landlocked states that depend 

on the ports for their imports and exports.

FIGURE 8

Truck Vehicle-Miles Traveled on U.S. Highways: 1980-2003

1980 1985 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

0

50

100

150

200

250

Truck, total

Truck, combination

Truck, single-unit 2-axle 6-tire or more

 Billions of miles

NOTE: Total trucks exclude light trucks such as pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles, and minivans. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau 

of Transportation Statistics, National Transportation Statistics 2005, available at http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/ as of August 2005. 
28 FREIGHT IN AMERICA

TABLE 12

U.S. Rail Carload and Intermodal Commodity Shipments: 2002

SCTG 

code Description

Tons 

(thousands)

Ton-miles 

(millions)

Miles 

per ton

15 Coal 849,060 569,552 671

42 Mixed freight 136,962 193,270 1,411

 2 Cereal grains 127,365 107,159 841

12 Gravel and crushed stone 105,124 22,858 217

20 Basic chemicals 84,332 69,556 825

26 Wood products 66,446 71,331 1,074

14 Metallic ores and concentrates 65,570 12,979 198

32 Base metal in primary or semi fi nished forms and in fi nished basic shapes 57,131 37,075 649

13 Nonmetallic minerals n.e.c. 55,928 29,165 521

41 Waste and scrap 55,719 27,165 488

27 Pulp, newsprint, paper, and paperboard 53,782 52,283 972

 7 Other prepared foodstuffs and fats and oils 53,415 52,071 975

36 Motorized and other vehicles (including parts) 50,672 42,232 833

19 Coal and petroleum products, n.e.c. 47,675 32,859 689

22 Fertilizers 45,130 33,701 747

31 Nonmetallic mineral products 37,549 18,464 492

24 Plastics and rubber 37,360 34,804 932

 4 Animal feed and products of animal origin, n.e.c. 35,012 26,620 760

 3 Other agricultural products 28,952 28,804 995

 6 Milled grain products and preparations, and bakery products 22,058 16,876 765

11 Natural sands 17,848 7,443 417

23 Chemical products and preparations, n.e.c. 17,763 14,483 815

 8 Alcoholic beverages 6,914 7,903 1,143

25 Logs and other wood in the rough 6,766 2,393 354

33 Articles of base metal 6,740 7,626 1,132

37 Transportation equipment, n.e.c. 4,589 2,167 472

18 Fuel oils 2,267 1,891 834

17 Gasoline and aviation turbine fuel 2,222 776 349

34 Machinery 2,130 2,584 1,213

28 Paper or paperboard articles 1,805 2,103 1,165

35 Electronic and other electrical equipment and components and offi ce equipment 1,589 2,214 1,393

 5 Meat, fi sh, seafood, and their preparations 1,246 2,340 1,878

16 Crude petroleum 1,121 391 349

39 Furniture, mattresses and mattress supports, lamps, lighting fi ttings, and... 869 1,389 1,599

40 Miscellaneous manufactured products 830 1,051 1,266

10 Monumental or building stone 634 323 509

29 Printed products 560 700 1,250

30 Textiles, leather, and articles of textiles or leather 455 718 1,579

21 Pharmaceutical products 155 227 1,464

38 Precision instruments and apparatus 71 130 1,834

 9 Tobacco products 11 22 2,059

99 Commodity unknown 18 22 1,223

KEY: SCTG = Standard Classifi cation of Transported Goods.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Surface Transportation Board, 2002 Carload Waybill Sample data.
FREIGHT IN AMERICA 29

Nearly 9 percent of total tonnage transported 

within the United States involved some form of 

waterborne transportation, according to the composite estimates (table 1). The total tonnage of 

U.S. waterborne freight, including domestic commerce and international trade, was nearly 2.4 billion tons in 2003, up from 2 billion tons in 1980 

(table 14). 

The maritime transportation system carries 

more U.S.-international freight, both in terms of 

tonnage and value, than other freight modes. In 

2003, water transportation carried over threequarters (78 percent) of the weight and 41 percent 

of the value of U.S.-international merchandise 

trade (USDOT BTS 2004).23

A major global trend in maritime trade in recent 

decades has been the growth in use of containers for international shipments. In 2004, nearly 

24 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs)24 of 

merchandise moved in and out of U.S. container 

ports, up 79 percent from 13 million in 1995 

(table 15). U.S. container ports handled an average of 65,344 TEUs of loaded containers a day in 

2004. These container units arrive and leave the 

seaports either by rail or truck as single modes 

or by intermodal truck-rail combination.25 Five 

23 Freight handled by land modes accounted for 22 percent of the 

overall weight and 28 percent of the value of U.S. international 

merchandise trade. Air cargo accounted for less than one percent 

of the weight but 26 percent of the value (USDOT BTS 2004).

24 A TEU is the standard unit for counting containers of various 

lengths and describing the capacity of container vessels.

25 A large number of containers also cross the land border crossing ports by truck and rail.

of the top 10 container ports in the United States 

are on the West Coast (table 15). Between 1995 

and 2004, the Port of Los Angeles had the largest growth in terms of number of TEUs, refl ecting 

increased trade with Asia and Pacifi c Rim countries. Savannah, GA, showed the fastest growth 

in terms of annual percent change. High growth 

rates for Savannah and Houston refl ect the strong 

activity in U.S. container trade with Latin American countries. 

Oil and Gas Pipelines

Pipelines carry a wide variety of energy commodities, from different grades of crude petroleum 

and refi ned petroleum products such as aviation 

fuels, diesel, and heating oils, as well as natural 

gas. These pipelines transport commodities from 

domestic production—either in coastal waters or 

onshore—and from imports. Energy derived from 

piped crude or petroleum products is consumed 

at nearly every stage of the production of goods 

and services in the United States. The movement 

of products by pipelines is an elaborate and complex process, in part because of the number and 

types of commodities transported. Several types of 

oil and gas pipelines are in operation in the United 

States today. Gathering pipelines carry products 

from production fi elds, transmission pipelines 

transport products to terminals and refi neries, 

and distribution pipelines carry products to fi nal 

market and consumption points. Together, these 

pipelines move large quantities of hazardous liquid and gas products.26

In 2003, according to recently improved BTS 

estimates of ton-miles, U.S. pipeline movement 

of crude oil, petroleum products, and natural gas 

produced 868 billion total ton-miles (table 16). 

These new pipeline estimates include shipments 

by natural gas liquids which accounted for about 

one-third of the pipeline total. When natural gas 

shipments are included in the pipeline total, oil 

and gas pipelines accounted for approximately 20 

percent of total freight ton-miles by all modes in 

26 Besides liquid pipelines, there are pipelines that carry natural 

gas. Liquid pipelines sometimes carry gaseous products such as 

natural gas liquids, including propane, that are often referred 

to as highly volatile liquids (HVLs). These products are gases at 

atmospheric temperatures and pressure but liquids under the pressures of pipelines. Non-liquid pipelines handle almost all natural 

gas transmission and distribution (AOPL 2004a).

TABLE 13

Tons of Coal for Top Railroads Originated 

by State: 2003

Tons 

(millions)

Percent of 

U.S. total

Wyoming 358 46.1 

West Virginia 108 14.0 

Kentucky 72 9.3 

Illinois 38 4.8 

Pennsylvania 36 4.6 

Top 5 states total 612 78.8 

U.S. total 777 100.0 

SOURCE: Association of American Railroads (AAR), 2003, Origination and Termination States of Leading Rail Commodities, available at www.aar.org, as of September 2005. 
30 FREIGHT IN AMERICA

2003 (14 percent from oil pipelines and 6 percent 

from gas pipelines). 

Pipelines move large volumes of both domestic and imported petroleum and gas products. 

For example in 2004, the United States imported 

over 4.7 billion barrels of crude oil and petroleum products, and pipelines helped to transport 

a large proportion of these on part of the journey 

from the points of entry to refi neries, terminals, 

and markets for fi nal consumption.27 Additionally 

there was over 3.6 million cubic feet of natural 

gas imports from Canada into the United States 

in 2004, up from 1.4 million cubic feet in 1990 

(USDOE EIA 2005). 

27 The Association of Oil Pipe Lines estimates that pipelines 

accounted for about 68 percent of the ton-miles produced from 

transporting crude petroleum and petroleum products in the 

United States in 2002 (AOPL 2004:b).

FIGURE 9

Tonnage of Inbound and Outbound Rail Shipments: 2003

Weight of shipment (million short tons)

>300

100 - 299

50 - 99

<50

Inbound rail shipments

Outbound rail shipments

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation 

Statistics, based on Surface Transportation Board carload, rail waybill sample data. 
FREIGHT IN AMERICA 31

TABLE 14

Tons, Ton-Miles, and Length of Haul of U.S. Domestic and International Maritime Freight: 

1980-2003

Tons (millions) Ton-miles (millions) Average length of haul (miles per ton)

Year Total

U.S.-

international 

cargo

Domestic 

cargo Total

U.S.-

international 

cargo

Domestic 

cargo Total

U.S.-

international 

cargo

Domestic 

cargo

1980 1,995 921 1,074 1,016,085 94,249 921,836 509.2 102.3 858.4

1990 2,159 1,042 1,118 932,151 98,608 833,544 431.7 94.7 745.7

2000 2,419 1,355 1,064 763,421 117,622 645,799 315.6 86.8 606.8

2001 2,387 1,351 1,037 736,930 115,244 621,686 308.7 85.3 599.7

2002 2,335 1,319 1,016 721,422 109,341 612,081 308.9 82.9 602.5

2003 2,388 1,378 1,010 714,440 108,294 606,146 299.2 78.6 600.3

Percent change 

1980-2003 19.7 49.6 –6.0 –29.7 14.9 –34.2 –41.2 –23.2 –30.1

SOURCE: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Navigation Data Center, Waterborne Commerce of United States, Annual issues, also at http://www.iwr.

usace.army.mil/ndc/wcsc as of October 2005.

TABLE 15

Top 10 U.S. Maritime Container Ports: 1995-2004

Thousands of TEUs

Average number 

of TEUs per day

Percent 

change 

Port 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 1995 2004 1995-2004

Los Angeles, CA 1,849 3,228 3,428 4,060 4,664 4,875 5,066 13,355 163.6 

Long Beach, CA 2,137 3,204 3,195 3,184 3,091 3,764 5,855 10,313 76.1 

New York, NY 1,537 2,200 2,355 2,627 2,803 3,163 4,211 8,666 105.8 

Charleston, SC 758 1,246 1,159 1,197 1,250 1,421 2,077 3,894 87.5 

Savannah, GA 445 720 813 1,014 1,124 1,290 1,219 3,535 189.9 

Norfolk, VA 647 850 885 982 1,093 1,206 1,773 3,304 86.4 

Oakland, CA 919 989 963 979 1,064 1,197 2,518 3,280 30.3 

Houston, TX 489 733 783 851 933 1,098 1,340 3,008 124.5 

Seattle, WA 993 960 824 850 815 1,049 2,721 2,874 5.7 

Tacoma, WA 425 647 612 769 931 941 1,164 2,577 121.3 

Top 10 U.S. Ports 10,199 14,777 15,017 16,513 17,768 20,004 27,942 54,807 96.1 

Top 10 ports as % of total 76.5 74.1 82.9 83.7 83.5 83.9 

Total, all ports1

 13,328 19,938 18,117 19,729 21,289 23,851 36,515 65,344 79.0 

1 Includes all container ports in the 50 states and Puerto Rico.

NOTE: TEUs = 20-foot equivalent units. One 20-foot container equals 1 TEU while one 40-foot container equals 2 TEUs. The data in this 

table include only loaded containers engaged in U.S.-international maritime activity. Data include U.S. imports, exports, and transshipments. Transshipments neither originate nor are destined for the United States but pass through it from one foreign country to another. 

For example, an automobile component shipped from Japan and destined for Mexico may pass through the Ports of Los Angeles or Long 

Beach before being trucked to Mexico. Therefore, the trade levels will be greater than those reported in U.S.-international trade statistics, 

which exclude transshipments. The data also exclude military shipments.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration, September 2005; based on Journal of Commerce, Port Import/Export 

Reporting Services (PIERS) data from multiple years.
32 FREIGHT IN AMERICA

Air Cargo

In 2004, all-cargo carriers and other commercial airlines generated over 37 billion freight revenue ton-miles (fi gure 10). Since 1980, air freight 

revenue ton-miles grew faster in the international 

market (averaging 8 percent per year) than in the 

domestic market (6 percent per year). Ton-miles 

from the international market now exceed those 

from the domestic market, having overtaken the 

domestic segment in 2000. During this period, 

total freight revenue ton-miles grew even faster 

(7 percent annually) than total revenue passenger 

miles (4 percent annually) (table 17). 

TABLE 16

U.S. Pipeline Ton-Miles: 1980-2003

(Billions)

Year

Pipeline 

total

Liquid pipelines 

(oil & oil products)

Natural gas 

pipelines Total

Pipeline’s share 

of total ton-miles 

(percent)

1980 866 588 278 3,353 25.8 

1990 822 584 238 3,584 22.9 

2000 874 577 297 4,285 20.4 

2001 859 576 283 4,317 19.9 

2002 879 586 293 4,366 20.1 

2003 868 590 278 4,357 19.9 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau 

of Transportation Statistics, Journal of Transportation and Statistics, vol. 8, no. 1, 2005, Scott M. Dennis, 

“Improved Estimates of Ton-Miles,” pp 23-44.

FIGURE 10

U.S. Air Freight Domestic and International Revenue Ton-Miles: 1980-2004

1980 1990 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 

0 

5 

10 

15 

20 

25 

30 

35 

40 

Billions 

Total 

International

Domestic 

NOTE: The air ton-miles for U.S. imports and exports are from air cargo handled at U.S. airports by U.S. and 

foreign air carriers. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau 

of Transportation Statistics, based on Offi ce of Airline Information data in National Transportation Statistics, 

2005, online version, available at http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/ as of 

September 2005. 
FREIGHT IN AMERICA 33

Because commodities that move by air tend to 

be high in value, U.S.-international air cargo averaged $82,000 per ton in 2004. And because it is 

so high in value, air cargo accounted for a much 

larger proportion of the value (27 percent) than the 

weight (less than 1 percent) of overall U.S.-international merchandise trade (USDOT BTS 2004). 

Air cargo also accounts for a much smaller 

share of the weight and ton-miles of U.S. domestic and international freight combined. According 

to the composite estimates, air freight accounted 

for about 4 percent of the value and less than 

one percent of the tonnage and ton-miles in 2002 

(table 1). Although air’s share of the tonnage and 

ton-miles is relatively small, growth in air freight 

creates demand for more truck and intermodal 

services because almost all air cargo shipments 

begin and end their journey by truck. 

Major U.S. airports serve as gateways of exit 

and entry for air cargo originating in or destined 

for markets located in large metropolitan areas. 

In 2004, John F. Kennedy (JFK) International 

Airport, in New York, was the leading overall 

gateway for U.S. international freight by value. It 

handled $125 billion of air cargo, accounting for 

6 percent of the $2.2 trillion in total U.S. international goods trade (USDOT BTS 2005). JFK was 

followed in 2004 by the 2003 leader, the Port of 

Los Angeles ($121 billion) and Port of Long Beach 

($121 billion) in terms of value of U.S.-international freight. In terms of weight, Anchorage, AK, 

was the leading U.S. air gateway in 2004, handling 28 percent of the 9.5 million tons of international air cargo transported through U.S. airports 

in 2004.28 Memphis International Airport was 

the lead hub airport for express and overnight air 

shipments.

Multimodal29

In 2002, according to the CFS over $1 trillion 

worth of goods were transported multimodally, 

including:30

• parcel, U.S. Postal Service, and courier,

• truck and rail

• truck and water, and 

• rail and water.

Between 1993 and 2002, the value of these 

multimodal shipments measured in the CFS grew 

28 Anchorage International Airport (ANC) is a major hub for 

international air trade to Asian countries, with most fl ights from 

the United States destined for Asia or fl ights from Asia destined 

for the United States making an operational stop at ANC. A 

1996 U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) rule permits 

air carriers from foreign countries (except those from the United 

Kingdom and Japan) to conduct expanded cargo activities at 

Anchorage. These activities include cargo transfer from foreign 

carrier’s aircraft to any of its other aircraft, transfer from a foreign carrier to any U.S. air carrier, and transfer from one foreign 

carrier to another foreign carrier. (ANC website http://www.dot.

state.ak.us/anc/Management/Marketing/usdot.htm.)

29 Due to lack of detailed modal information for the non-CFS 

shipments it was not possible to assign any of these shipments, 

that were out of scope of the CFS and that may have moved multimodally, to the multimodal category. Hence the CFS-only estimates presented here almost certainly underestimate the true level 

of multimodal freight activity in the United States.

30 In this report, the term “multimodal” refers to shipments transported by a combination of modes, including parcel, courier, and 

postal services, truck and rail, truck and water, rail and water, and 

other modal combinations. As used in this report, multimodal is 

different from intermodal which is used in this report to describe 

the traditional truck and rail combination only.

TABLE 17

Air Carrier Revenue Freight Ton-Miles and Passenger-Miles: 1980-2004

(Billions)

1980 1990 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Percent 

change, 

1980-2004

Annual average 

percent growth 

rate, 1980-2004

Total freight ton-miles 8 17 31 28 31 34 37 372.4 6.7 

Domestic freight ton-miles 5 9 15 13 14 15 17 274.1 5.7 

International freight ton-miles 3 7 16 15 17 18 20 505.7 7.8 

Total revenue passenger miles 268 473 709 665 654 674 751 180.1 4.4 

Domestic revenue passenger miles 204 346 516 487 482 505 557 172.4 4.3 

International revenue passenger miles 63 126 193 178 172 169 194 206.2 4.8 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 

National Transportation Statistics 2005, online version, available at www.bts.gov.
34 FREIGHT IN AMERICA

63 percent in infl ation-adjusted terms, from about 

$662 billion to about $1.1 trillion (table 10). These 

shipments accounted for 13 percent of the value 

of the CFS shipments in 2002, about 2 percent by 

the weight, and about 7 percent by ton-miles of 

shipments. Two large market segments of the multimodal shipments by value are parcel and courier services and intermodal truck and rail. Both 

have experienced growth and industry changes in 

recent years. As defi ned in the CFS, multimodal 

shipments exclude commodities transported by 

air (which almost always require movements by 

truck from the shipment origin to the airport and 

from the airport to the shipment destination).31

Parcel and courier service—In 2002, according to the CFS, over $986 billion worth of goods 

shipped by U.S. businesses were transported by 

the parcel, postal, and courier service, which is 

treated as a separate “mode” of transportation in 

the CFS (table 10). Between 1993 and 2002, these 

shipments grew about 75 percent by value in infl ation-adjusted terms. Goods moved by this industry, such as electronics, pharmaceuticals, textiles, 

and auto parts, are typically higher value relative 

to their weight and averaged over $38,000 per ton 

in 2002. 

In 2002, parcel and express shipments measured 

by the CFS traveled an average of 745 miles per 

ton, refl ecting the multimodal nature of the services offered by the major parcel and express carriers, including Federal Express (FedEx), United 

Parcel Service (UPS), and DHL.

Intermodal truck and rail—According to the 

Rail Waybill data, the classic intermodal rail and 

truck combination (called rail intermodal) moved 

shipments weighing 173 million tons in 2002, an 

increase of 47 percent from 118 million tons in 

1993.32 If it is assumed that these goods would 

have otherwise been carried by only trucks in 

50,000 lb payloads, then the intermodal traffi c 

handled by rail in 2002 essentially removed 6.9 

million large truck trips from our highways for 

31 An example of an air-only shipment is when a manufactured 

aircraft fl ies from the production plant to the purchaser. 

32 This section uses the Surface Transportation Board’s Rail Waybill Sample data on truck-rail intermodal because the 2002 CFS 

truck-rail data did not meet publication standards. Multimodal 

shipments may be underreported in the CFS because shippers, who 

report on the characteristics of shipments, may not always know 

whether the shipment is transported by more than one mode.

a major part of the distance traveled by these 

shipments.

In 2004, intermodal rail-truck service handled 

about 11 million trailers and containers, according 

to the Association of American Railroads (AAR) 

(fi gure 11). In 2003, for the fi rst time ever, intermodal freight surpassed coal in terms of revenue 

for U.S. Class I railroads, accounting for about 23 

percent of Class I carriers gross revenue. In 2004, 

nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of the rail-truck 

intermodal traffi c was in containers.33 Trailers 

accounted for the remainder (AAR 2005b). Rapid 

growth in use of containers for transportation of 

U.S.-international merchandise trade is the primary factor behind the rising trend in U.S. railtruck intermodal shipments. Imports account for 

the majority of this intermodal activity.

Parcel and Express Shipments

During the past two decades, growth in the 

number of parcels shipped has transformed America’s parcel industry and its impact on the freight 

transportation system. Increasing global integration of the U.S. economy has become a signifi cant 

force in shaping the nation’s freight transportation system. A truly multimodal industry, parcel 

and express plays an important role in the American economy as it enables the transportation of 

time-sensitive shipments that are critical to the 

competitiveness of U.S. businesses domestically 

and abroad. 

The parcel industry shipped an estimated 12 

percent of CFS shipments by value, weighing 26 

million tons in 2002. The top commodities shipped 

by parcel couriers include electronic and offi ce 

equipment, miscellaneous manufactured products, 

textiles, mixed freight, and printed products. 

Shipments by three of the major U.S. parcel 

couriers, the United States Postal Service (USPS), 

Federal Express (FedEx), and United Parcel Service (UPS),34 have dramatically increased in past 

years. USPS shipments increased from 102 billion 

pieces of mail (i.e., packages, letters, magazines, 

etc.) in 1980 to 206 billion in 2004 (USPS 2005). 

33 This fi gure represents the number containers of any size not the 

number of standardized twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) used 

elsewhere in this report.

34 Another major fi rm in the parcel industry, DHL, does not 

release its shipment fi gures to the public.
FREIGHT IN AMERICA 35

FedEx and UPS also experienced large growth in 

their shipments. From 1980 to the 2004, FedEx 

shipments grew from 68,000 to 3.2 million parcels shipped in average daily package volume 

(FEDEX 1 2005), while UPS shipments grew from 

3.5 billion packages shipped in 2000 to 3.6 billion 

packages in 2004 (UPS 2004).35

FedEx processes millions of shipments daily on 

route to addresses within the United States and 

more than 220 countries. In 2004, the average 

weight of a FedEx package was 7.4 lb (FEDEX 2 

2005). With an average daily delivery volume of 

14.1 million packages and documents, delivering 

parcels internationally to more than 200 countries, UPS provides services to more than 7.9 million customers daily (UPS 2005). 

The parcel sector pioneered a “hub and spoke” 

streamlined model of parcel delivery, with their 

35 UPS data prior to 2000 were unavailable.

major hubs located near large demographic centers of the United States (see fi gure 12). When a 

package is shipped by a private parcel carrier it 

is sent to an origin processing facility, then to an 

origin regional center, and from there to its destination regional center, destination processing 

facility, and fi nally to its recipient. 

FedEx, headquartered in Memphis, TN, 

accounts for nearly all of the freight movement 

processed by the Memphis International Airport. UPS is headquartered in Louisville, KY, and 

accounts for virtually all freight traffi c handled 

by Louisville’s Standiford Field. The top airport 

for air cargo by DHL, another major parcel courier, was the Greater Cincinnati Airport of Ohio, 

where the fi rm has two ground-air multimodal 

freight centers. USPS has several regional ground 

distribution hubs.

FIGURE 11

Rail-Truck Intermodal Traffi c in the United States: 1980-2004

198019811982198319841985

1986

198719881989199019911992199319941995

199619971998199920002001200220032004

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Millions of units

Trailers Containers Total

NOTE: Container-trailer breakdown not available prior to 1988. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau 

of Transportation Statistics, based on data from Association of American Railroads, 2004: Class I Rail Road 

Statistics, p. 2; 1990-2003 Rail Road Facts, 2003, p. 26; 1980-1985 Rail Road Facts, 1991, p. 26; 1986-1989 Rail 

Road Facts, 2001, p. 26. 
36 FREIGHT IN AMERICA

THE GEOGRAPHY OF U.S. 

FREIGHT SHIPMENTS36

Several factors infl uence the distribution of 

shipments originating in or sent to specifi c states, 

including the size of a state’s population and econ36 These fi ndings are based on the CFS only data. Origin and destination information is not available for the non-CFS component 

of the composite estimates.

omy, its resources, and geographic spread. The 

2002 CFS provides data that allow analysis of the 

geography of freight fl ows at the state, interstate, 

and metropolitan area levels. The CFS origin and 

destination picture presented here will differ from 

the picture that will arise if we had origin and 

destination data from the non-CFS portion of the 

composite data.

FIGURE 12

Air Freight Handled by the Top Three All-Cargo Carriers at their Hubs: 2004

o 

o 

o o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

, 

o o 

o 

o 

o 

Total weight (thousand short tons) 

936 - 2000 

445 - 935 

133 - 444 

<133 

King county, WA 

Seattle, WA 

Portland, OR 

Spokane, WA 

Great Falls, MT 

Grand Forks, ND 

Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN 

Des Moines, IA 

Rockford, IL Milwaukee, WI 

Chicago, IL Detroit, MI 

Buffalo, NY 

Syracuse, NY Boston, MA 

Hartford, CT 

Rochester, NY 

Newark, NJ New York, NY 

Philadelphia, PA 

Dover, DE 

Washington, DC 

Columbus, OH 

Cincinnati, OH 

Louisville, KY 

Indianapolis, IN 

Charlotte, NC 

Columbia, SC Atlanta, GA 

Memphis, TN 

Orlando, FL 

Ft. Lauderdale, FL 

Miami, FL 

Houston, TX 

Austin, TX 

San Antonio, TX 

Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX Dallas, TX 

Kansas City, MO St. Louis, MO 

Salt Lake City, UT 

Denver, CO 

Albuquerque, NM 

Sacramento, CA 

Oakland, CA 

San Francisco, CA 

Los Angeles, CA 

Ontario/San Bernardino 

Phoenix, AZ 

Honolulu, HI

oAnchorage, AK

NOTE: This map represents freight handled by United Parcel Service, Fedex, and DHL at their airport hubs.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation 

Statistics, Offi ce of Airline Information, Special Tabulation, 2004 Air Traffi c Data. 
FREIGHT IN AMERICA 37

Origins and Destinations by State 

and Metro Areas

In 2002, more than one-quarter (29 percent) of 

CFS shipments by value originated in states with 

large manufacturing sectors and populations—

California, Texas, Ohio, and Illinois (fi gure 13 

map). These four large states were also the destination for nearly one-third of shipments by value. 

The amount of freight shipped to and from these 

states stems in part from their large domestic markets and their importance to manufacturing and 

assembling parts produced in other states. Also 

these states have major freight gateways and border crossing ports or have large intermodal terminals (e.g., Chicago in Illinois). Therefore a good 

proportion of the freight destined for these states 

involves international trade. Table 18 shows the 

value and weight of both outbound and inbound 

freight shipments by state in 2002. Key highlights 

on state origins and destinations include:

FIGURE 13

Value of Freight Shipments by State of Origin: 2002

(Commodity Flow Survey data only; covers all modes)

Value of Shipments (billion $)

>600

400 - 600

250 - 399

50 - 249

<50

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 2002 Commodity Flow Survey data. 
38 FREIGHT IN AMERICA

TABLE 18

Value and Weight of Outbound and Inbound Commodity Flows by State: 2002

(Commodity Flow Survey data only)

Value of shipments (billion $) Weight of shipments (million tons)

Ordered by value of 

outbound shipments Outbound Inbound 

Ordered by weight of 

outbound shipments Outbound Inbound 

California 924 894 Texas 1,083 1,180 

Texas 589 719 California 904 974 

Ohio 494 413 Illinois 718 673 

Illinois 442 416 Ohio 546 585 

Michigan 389 407 Louisiana 496 561 

Pennsylvania 354 328 Florida 455 542 

New York 319 372 Wyoming 401 69 

Florida 297 405 Pennsylvania 400 400 

North Carolina 294 257 Indiana 398 429 

Indiana 291 244 Georgia 340 388 

New Jersey 287 267 Kentucky 336 266 

Tennessee 287 200 Minnesota 336 275 

Georgia 271 295 Michigan 331 366 

Wisconsin 217 183 North Carolina 276 328 

Massachusetts 201 160 West Virginia 276 132 

Kentucky 189 160 Tennessee 270 273 

Missouri 185 178 Virginia 269 274 

Washington 177 223 Washington 260 249 

Minnesota 166 161 Missouri 255 237 

Virginia 165 199 New York 250 286 

South Carolina 143 129 New Jersey 238 280 

Louisiana 140 159 Iowa 233 191 

Alabama 128 124 Wisconsin 230 249 

Maryland 121 152 Alabama 216 225 

Iowa 115 89 Kansas 193 186 

Arizona 111 119 Maryland 165 189 

Oregon 103 94 Oregon 158 187 

Kansas 95 87 Colorado 150 134 

Mississippi 95 78 South Carolina 143 164 

Colorado 93 105 Oklahoma 136 144 

Arkansas 92 78 Arkansas 120 128 

Connecticut 82 75 Utah 110 82 

Oklahoma 78 83 Nebraska 102 115 

Nebraska 62 52 Arizona 101 132 

Utah 62 62 Mississippi 99 106 

Nevada 41 69 Montana 90 45 

West Virginia 38 37 North Dakota 88 82 

Maine 32 29 Massachusetts 75 93 

New Hampshire 31 32 South Dakota 52 39 

Idaho 28 28 Connecticut 49 59 

South Dakota 26 20 New Mexico 49 51 

Rhode Island 21 18 Nevada 44 61 

Delaware 20 31 Alaska 36 36 

North Dakota 19 24 Idaho 35 34 

Vermont 16 18 New Hampshire 34 34 

New Mexico 15 34 Maine 32 26 

Hawaii 13 21 Delaware 31 47 

Montana 12 23 Hawaii 24 25 

Wyoming 12 16 Rhode Island 19 17 

Alaska 8 14 Vermont 16 16 

District of Columbia 4 14 District of Columbia 1 6 

CFS total 8,397 8,397 CFS total 11,668 11,668 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics and 

U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Commodity Flow Survey, individual state data, May 2005.
FREIGHT IN AMERICA 39

Originations

• By value, the leading state of origin for CFS 

shipments was California with 11 percent 

($924 billion) of the value of total CFS shipments, followed by Texas with 7 percent of the 

value. Other leading states of origin by value 

include Ohio and Illinois.

• Four states had over $440 billion each of outbound freight shipments (California, Texas, 

Ohio, and Illinois). Together these four states 

accounted for 29 percent of the value of CFS 

shipments. 

• By weight, the leading states of origin for outbound shipments include Texas, California, 

and Illinois with over 700 million tons each. 

Destinations 

• By value, the leading state of destination for 

inbound CFS shipments was California, with 

over $890 billion destined for the state. California was followed by Texas with $719 billion. 

Other leading states for inbound shipments 

include Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Florida, and 

New York.

• Seven states had over $370 billion each of 

inbound freight shipments (California, Texas, 

Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Florida, and New 

York). Together these states accounted for 43 

percent of the value of CFS shipments. 

• By weight, the leading state of destination for 

inbound freight was Texas with 10 percent of 

the national total. California was next with 8 

percent of shipments destined to locations in 

the state. 

By Mode

• Nationally, trucks carried 74 percent or $6.2 

trillion of the total value of CFS shipments. In 

25 states, truck transportation handled at least 

74 percent of the value of the total shipments 

originating in each of these states. California 

was both the origin as well as the destination 

for the largest amount of truck freight shipments by value, with $626 billion (outbound) 

and $618 billion (inbound).

• Nationally, trucks hauled 67 percent or 7.8 billion tons of the total weight of CFS shipments. 

In 37 states, trucks transported at least 67 

percent of the tonnage of the total shipments 

originating in each of these states. Once again, 

California was both the origin as well as the destination for the largest amount of truck freight 

shipments by weight, with 768 million tons 

(outbound) and 782 million tons (inbound).

• For rail, Wyoming, which ships large volumes 

of coal, was the leading state for outbound 

shipments with 330 million tons. Texas was the 

top state for inbound rail shipments by weight 

with over 231 million tons of freight destined 

there in 2002. 

Metropolitan Areas37

• In 2002, the largest 64 metropolitan areas 

(MAs) where statistically reliable estimates 

could be made accounted for 61 percent of 

the CFS shipments by value and 45 percent by 

weight. Over 5 billion tons of freight valued at 

$5 trillion originated in the largest MAs.38

• By value, the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside metro area was the lead for outbound shipments originating in MAs. Over $504 billion of 

freight went out of this metro region in 2002. 

Shipments from MAs are widely dispersed 

through the nation to other metro regions as 

illustrated by fi gure 14 [map], which shows 

shipments from the Los Angeles-Long BeachRiverside MA. Chicago-Naperville-Michigan 

City metro area (Illinois part) was second with 

about $305 billion of outbound freight. 

• By weight, three metropolitan areas led in outbound freight shipments. These top MAs, in no 

rank order, were Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, 

Texas (462 million tons); Chicago-NapervilleMichigan City metro area (Illinois part) (399 

million tons); and Los Angeles-Long BeachRiverside metro area (384 million tons).

37 In this report, multi-state metropolitan areas are kept separate. 

For example, the Illinois and Michigan parts of the ChicagoNaperville-Michigan City metro area and the Kansas and Missouri parts of the Kansas City, MO-KS metropolitan statistical 

area (MeSA) are not combined. 

38 In 2002, there were 361 metropolitan statistical areas (MAs) 

in the United States as offi cially designated by the U.S. Offi ce of 

Management and Budget in December 2003. The largest 64 MAs, 

covered in the CFS, accounted for roughly 61 percent (163 million) of the 269 million U.S. population in 2002 (USDOC Census 

2005). Table 1: Annual Estimates of the Population of Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 

2003 (CBSA-EST2003-01). Internet Release Date: June 7, 2005.
40 FREIGHT IN AMERICA

Interstate Freight Movements

The U.S. freight transportation network is a 

national system, involving heavy interstate activity, as shown in the 2002 CFS data. 

• Nationally, nearly 60 percent of the value of 

CFS freight shipments by all modes, worth $4.9 

trillion, crossed state lines in interstate commerce. By weight 34 percent of the shipments, 

over 4 billion tons, was interstate (table 19). 

• Interstate’s share of shipments varies by state, 

commodity, and mode. In 42 states, out-of-state 

shipments accounted for more than 50 percent 

of the value of the state’s outbound shipments. 

Only in eight states did interstate shipments 

account for less than 50 percent of the value 

of their outbound shipments. These include 

large states with major cities that are widely 

separated, such as California and Texas; states 

in the corners of the country, such as Florida 

and Washington State; and Alaska and Hawaii 

which are not contiguous with the other 48 

states (fi gure 15 map). 

• By weight, interstate shipments accounted for 

over half the shipments in 8 states, including 

Wyoming where nearly 87 percent of the tonnage originating in the state was interstate.

The 2002 CFS provides a measure of the relative 

share of states’ products moved by mode and the 

proportion shipped to out-of-state markets by that 

FIGURE 14

Distribution of CFS Shipments from Los Angeles Metropolitan Area: 2002

to Honolulu

Flow of commodity by value (million $)

< 3,000

3,000 - 9,999

10,000 - 25,999

26,000 - 226,000

CFS = Commodity Flow Survey

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 2002 Commodity Flow Survey data. 
FREIGHT IN AMERICA 41

TABLE 19

Interstate Commerce as Share of Shipments by State of Origin: 2002

(Commodity Flow Survey data only; covers all modes)

Value (billion $) Weight (million tons)

Ranked by percent 

interstate State total Interstate

Percent 

interstate

Ranked by percent 

interstate State total Interstate

Percent 

interstate

Rhode Island 21 18 83.8 Wyoming 401 350 87.4 

New Hampshire 31 26 83.1 West Virginia 276 183 66.5 

Tennessee 287 228 79.6 Montana 90 52 58.6 

Kentucky 189 148 78.0 Kentucky 336 194 57.6 

Mississippi 95 73 76.8 Idaho 35 19 53.4 

Delaware 20 16 76.6 Mississippi 99 53 53.4 

Arkansas 92 70 76.0 Rhode Island 19 10 51.0 

West Virginia 38 29 75.5 Arkansas 120 61 50.9 

Connecticut 82 62 75.3 Missouri 255 126 49.6 

Iowa 115 86 74.5 Iowa 233 113 48.5 

Vermont 16 12 74.2 South Dakota 52 24 45.3 

New Jersey 287 209 72.8 Maine 32 14 44.8 

South Dakota 26 19 72.8 Wisconsin 230 101 44.0 

Kansas 95 69 72.8 Utah 110 48 43.8 

Indiana 291 209 71.6 Delaware 31 13 43.5 

South Carolina 143 102 71.4 Alabama 216 94 43.3 

Massachusetts 201 143 71.0 Minnesota 336 145 43.2 

Nevada 41 29 70.7 Pennsylvania 400 166 41.5 

Missouri 185 129 69.4 Tennessee 270 111 41.2 

Alabama 128 87 68.4 Colorado 150 61 40.3 

Maine 32 22 67.8 Ohio 546 212 38.8 

Oklahoma 78 52 67.2 South Carolina 143 54 37.9 

Idaho 28 19 67.0 Illinois 718 271 37.7 

Pennsylvania 354 237 66.8 New Jersey 238 89 37.6 

Nebraska 62 41 66.4 New Mexico 49 18 37.0 

Wisconsin 217 143 65.8 Indiana 398 146 36.6 

Ohio 494 325 65.8 Vermont 16 6 36.5 

Georgia 271 172 63.6 Oklahoma 136 46 34.0 

Illinois 442 277 62.7 Kansas 193 65 33.8 

Wyoming 12 8 62.3 New York 250 84 33.8 

Maryland 121 75 61.9 New Hampshire 34 11 33.5 

New York 319 195 61.2 Nebraska 102 34 33.5 

North Carolina 294 178 60.6 Maryland 165 55 33.2 

Oregon 103 61 59.8 Virginia 269 84 31.3 

Minnesota 166 97 58.5 Massachusetts 75 23 30.8 

Utah 62 36 58.1 Louisiana 496 150 30.4 

Virginia 165 94 57.1 Michigan 331 98 29.6 

Arizona 111 62 55.9 Georgia 340 99 29.3 

North Dakota 19 11 55.7 Nevada 44 13 28.7 

Colorado 93 50 54.1 North Dakota 88 24 26.8 

Michigan 389 199 51.2 Connecticut 49 13 26.5 

New Mexico 15 8 51.2 Oregon 158 42 26.4 

Louisiana 140 64 45.5 North Carolina 276 71 25.6 

Montana 12 5 43.5 Washington 260 61 23.4 

California 924 366 39.6 Arizona 101 21 20.4 

Texas 589 223 37.9 Texas 1083 167 15.4 

Florida 297 102 34.4 Florida 455 44 9.7 

Washington 177 55 31.1 California 904 81 9.0 

Alaska 8 1 10.9 Hawaii 24 1 5.2 

Hawaii 13 1 5.1 Alaska 36 1 3.9 

District of Columbia 4 3 84.1 District of Columbia 1 S S

CFS total 8,397 4,945 58.9 CFS total 11,668 4,024 34.5 

KEY: — Represents data cell equal to zero or less than 1 unit of measure;

S = Estimate does not meet publication standards because of high sampling variability or poor response quality.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics and 

U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Commodity Flow Survey, individual state data, May 2005.
42 FREIGHT IN AMERICA

mode. For example, nationally, truck shipments 

accounted for at least half of the value of goods 

movement in all but two states—Louisiana and 

Wyoming (table 20). Twenty-one states depend on 

highways to transport more than three-quarters of 

the value of their states’ products. Among states 

with large manufacturing activity that depend 

heavily on truck shipments, Texas, California, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania relied on 

trucking to transport between 60 percent and 80 

percent of the value of their freight.

Nationwide, interstate freight shipments 

accounted for over half (56 percent) of the value 

and 25 percent of the weight of goods transported 

by truck in the CFS. This suggests that individFIGURE 15

Interstate and Intrastate Flows as Share of Outbound Shipment Value by State: 2002

(Commodity Flow Survey data only; covers all modes)

Value of shipment (billion $)

>500

200 - 499

100 - 199

>100 

Interstate shipments

Intrastate shipments

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation 

Statistics, 2002 Commodity Flow Survey data. 
FREIGHT IN AMERICA 43

TABLE 20

Truck Shipments as Share of Total Value of All Shipments Originating in State: 

2002

(Commodity Flow Survey data only)

State of origin

Value by all modes

(million $)

Value by truck 

(million $)

Truck shipments as 

share of all mode 

total (percent)

District of Columbia 3,707 3,576 96.5

North Carolina 293,604 264,443 90.1

South Carolina 143,194 126,452 88.3

Mississippi 94,897 82,103 86.5

Maryland 121,356 104,030 85.7

Arkansas 91,967 78,165 85.0

Virginia 164,557 137,943 83.8

Kentucky 189,390 157,473 83.1

Georgia 270,703 224,029 82.8

Pennsylvania 354,399 287,156 81.0

Iowa 115,396 92,849 80.5

Nebraska 61,797 49,569 80.2

Tennessee 286,576 229,373 80.0

Alabama 127,727 101,595 79.5

Wisconsin 217,451 172,120 79.2

Maine 32,355 25,307 78.2

Michigan 388,571 303,640 78.1

Oklahoma 77,576 60,450 77.9

Vermont 16,238 12,571 77.4

Indiana 291,458 225,612 77.4

Florida 296,989 226,639 76.3

Ohio 494,278 377,110 76.3

Connecticut 82,477 61,768 74.9

New Mexico 14,907 11,118 74.6

Illinois 442,130 328,191 74.2

West Virginia 38,479 28,536 74.2

Utah 61,515 45,233 73.5

New Jersey 286,580 210,095 73.3

Kansas 95,285 69,645 73.1

Missouri 185,392 134,904 72.8

New York 318,775 231,714 72.7

Massachusetts 200,813 145,408 72.4

Oregon 102,600 73,655 71.8

Delaware 20,348 14,481 71.2

North Dakota 18,921 13,126 69.4

Minnesota 166,430 114,842 69.0

Colorado 93,184 64,155 68.8

Rhode Island 21,035 14,475 68.8

Nevada 40,756 27,748 68.1

California 923,669 625,530 67.7

Idaho 28,471 19,094 67.1

Montana 12,447 8,281 66.5

Arizona 111,273 73,237 65.8

Texas 589,064 379,531 64.4

New Hampshire 31,191 19,541 62.6

South Dakota 26,430 15,634 59.2

Alaska 8,032 4,620 57.5

Hawaii 13,480 7,484 55.5

Washington 177,395 89,594 50.5

Wyoming 12,106 5,675 46.9

Louisiana 139,843 55,481 39.7

CFS total 8,397,210 6,235,001 74.3

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau 

of Transportation Statistics and U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Commodity Flow Survey, individual state data, 

May 2005.
44 FREIGHT IN AMERICA

ual state economies rely on other states’ highway 

networks and the national highway systems to 

transport nearly 2 billion tons of goods to their 

ultimate destinations. In the CFS data, interstate 

shipments accounted for over 50 percent of the 

value of truck shipments in 36 states (table 21).

U.S.-INTERNATIONAL FREIGHT 

SHIPMENTS39

According to the composite estimates, nearly 

1.7 billion tons of merchandise moved in and 

out of the United States in 2002. This means that 

approximately 9 percent of the 19 billion tons 

of total commercial freight transported on the 

nation’s transportation system were imported 

goods or goods destined for exports. Maritime 

vessels carried 76 percent of the total weight and 

39 percent of the total value of the imports and 

exports in 2002. Trucks carried 11 percent of 

the weight and 21 percent of the value, while air 

carried less than 1 percent of the weight but 27 

percent of the value. Rail and pipeline carried the 

remainder.

According to U.S.-foreign trade statistics, in 

2004, the U.S. freight transportation network carried merchandise exports and imports worth over 

$2.2 trillion, an increase of 168 percent from $822 

billion in 1990 (both in infl ation-adjusted 2000 

dollars).40 Between 1990 and 2004, the ratio of 

the value of U.S. goods produced for exports and 

goods imported into the United States to GDP 

increased from 12 percent to 21 percent, also in 

infl ation-adjusted terms. 

Most U.S.-international merchandise trade is 

with relatively few countries, although the United 

States trades with most countries worldwide. In 

2004, three-quarters (75 percent) of the value of 

U.S. merchandise trade was with 15 countries, 

and just fi ve countries—Canada, Mexico, China, 

Japan, and Germany—accounted for over half (54 

39 The U.S. international data presented in this section are based 

on offi cial U.S. merchandise trade data and are not from the CFS. 

Summarized imports and export trade data are incorporated into 

the composite estimates and described in box B. 

40 Infl ation-adjusted chained 2000 dollars data on U.S.-international goods trade are not available from the Bureau of Economic Analysis for 1980 on the National Income and Products 

Accounts (NIPA) basis. The NIPA basis data for goods refl ects 

adjustments for statistical differences and balance of payments. 

See Table 4.2.6 at http://www.bea.gov/bea/dn/nipaweb/SelectTable.asp?Selected=N#S4, available as of September 2005.

percent) of the value of U.S. goods imports and 

exports (table 22). 

U.S.-NAFTA Trade

Nearly one-third of U.S. merchandise trade was 

with Canada and Mexico, the U.S.-North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) trade partners. In 2004, land modes of transportation (truck, 

rail, pipeline) carried the majority (89 percent) of 

U.S. goods trade with Canada and Mexico, a proportion that has remained stable since 1990. 

The modal shares of overall U.S.-NAFTA 

freight vary depending on the value or weight of 

the traded goods. In terms of value, trucks transported nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of the goods 

in U.S.-NAFTA trade in 2004 (fi gure 16). Trucks 

moved $453 billion ($215 billion of exports and 

$238 billion of imports) of this trade. Trucking 

was followed by rail, water, pipeline, and air. 

Trucks are more dominant in U.S. trade with 

Mexico, accounting for 69 percent of the value, 

than in U.S. trade with Canada, accounting for 60 

percent of the value. 

The relative modal roles in U.S.-NAFTA trade 

vary by weight (fi gure 16). In 2004, water transportation carried more of this trade in terms of 

tonnage than any other mode. About 246 million 

tons of U.S.-NAFTA trade traveled over water, 

accounting for about 39 percent of the weight. 

Water transportation was followed in descending order by truck, rail, pipeline, and air. Water 

is more dominant in terms of weight because of 

its role in transporting heavy bulk products (e.g., 

grains and crude petroleum), while higher valueper-ton commodities (e.g., fresh fl owers, electronics, and offi ce equipment) are more often moved 

by air, truck, and rail. Trucks moved an estimated 

176 million tons of traded goods with Canada 

and Mexico, accounting for about 28 percent of 

the weight of U.S.-NAFTA trade. Modal shares 

by weight vary by imports and exports. In 2004, 

trucks moved 21 percent of import tonnage and 

an estimated 45 percent of export tonnage.

North American Land Border 

Crossings

Along the U.S. land borders with Canada and 

Mexico are over 100 land ports where freight 

crosses between the countries; 80 of these are 

along the Canadian border and 24 are along the 
FREIGHT IN AMERICA 45

TABLE 21

Interstate Truck Shipments as Share of All Truck Shipments 

Originating in State: 2002

(Commodity Flow Survey data only)

State of origin

Value of 

all truck 

shipment

(million $)

Value of interstate 

truck shipments

(million $)

Interstate shipment 

as share of state’s 

truck total

(percent)

District of Columbia 3,576 3,042 85.1

Rhode Island 14,475 11,592 80.1

Delaware 14,481 11,504 79.4

Tennessee 229,373 179,598 78.3

Mississippi 82,103 64,142 78.1

New Hampshire 19,541 15,257 78.1

Kentucky 157,473 119,757 76.0

Arkansas 78,165 58,353 74.7

West Virginia 28,536 21,127 74.0

Iowa 92,849 66,232 71.3

Indiana 225,612 160,577 71.2

South Carolina 126,452 89,407 70.7

Connecticut 61,768 43,348 70.2

New Jersey 210,095 146,433 69.7

Kansas 69,645 47,900 68.8

Vermont 12,571 8,641 68.7

Massachusetts 145,408 96,233 66.2

Nebraska 49,569 32,688 65.9

Oklahoma 60,450 39,826 65.9

Alabama 101,595 65,923 64.9

Ohio 377,110 243,503 64.6

Pennsylvania 287,156 185,187 64.5

Maine 25,307 16,153 63.8

Missouri 134,904 83,680 62.0

Maryland 104,030 64,450 62.0

Nevada 27,748 16,938 61.0

Wisconsin 172,120 104,823 60.9

Georgia 224,029 134,925 60.2

South Dakota 15,634 9,388 60.0

North Carolina 264,443 158,015 59.8

Illinois 328,191 190,703 58.1

New York 231,714 128,444 55.4

Idaho 19,094 10,459 54.8

Utah 45,233 24,486 54.1

Virginia 137,943 73,412 53.2

Minnesota 114,842 60,006 52.3

Oregon 73,655 38,422 52.2

North Dakota 13,126 6,224 47.4

Louisiana 55,481 25,902 46.7

New Mexico 11,118 5,143 46.3

Colorado 64,155 28,377 44.2

Michigan 303,640 133,119 43.8

Arizona 73,237 28,575 39.0

Wyoming 5,675 1,977 34.8

Washington 89,594 30,859 34.4

Texas 379,531 124,096 32.7

California 625,530 199,094 31.8

Montana 8,281 2,565 31.0

Florida 226,639 58,423 25.8

Alaska 4,620 75 1.6

Hawaii 7,484 — 0.0

U.S. total 6,235,001 3,469,003 55.6

KEY: — Represents data cell equal to zero or less than 1 unit of measure. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau 

of Transportation Statistics and U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Commodity Flow Survey, individual state data, 

May 2005.
46 FREIGHT IN AMERICA

Mexican border. In 2004, more than 11 million 

trucks and 41 thousand trains carried freight into 

the United States through these ports of entry. On 

those trucks and trains were nearly 14 million 

containers with goods destined for every state in 

the country.41

Despite numerous available ports, a large percentage of this activity takes place at only a few. 

Nearly 40 percent of all truck crossings from Canada and Mexico passed through Detroit (MI), Laredo (TX), and Buffalo-Niagara Falls (NY), three 

ports that are also ranked in the top fi ve for train 

crossings (table 23). Each day truck crossings at 

these ports number in the thousands. 

The number of containers entering the country 

by truck and rail has increased. Since 1998, truck 

container entries grew by 31 percent, and rail 

41 The truck and rail container information presented here represent actual count of container equipment, not twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), as often used to describe maritime containers.

container entries grew by 65 percent (BTS Border 

Crossing data, 2005). 

U.S.-International Freight Gateways

Over 400 U.S. freight gateways—seaports, 

airports, and land border crossings—handle 

U.S. exports and imports. At least 125 gateways 

handle one billion dollars of trade or more, and 

these gateways are located in 40 states. The bulk 

of U.S. goods imports and exports passes through 

a relatively few number of gateways (USDOT BTS 

2004). In 2004:

• the nation’s top fi ve freight transportation gateways by value of goods handled more than 

one-fourth ($595 billion) of the total value of 

U.S.-international merchandise trade

• the nation’s top 15 gateways handled more 

than 52 percent of U.S.-international merchandise trade by value, and 

TABLE 22

Top 15 U.S. Trading Partners by Value of Merchandise Trade: 2004

(Billions of current U.S. dollars)

Rank Country Imports Exports

Total 

U.S. trade

Percent of total 

U.S. trade

Cumulative 

percent

1 Canada 255.9 187.7 443.6 19.4 19.4

2 Mexico 155.8 110.8 266.6 11.7 31.1

3 China 196.7 34.7 231.4 10.1 41.2

4 Japan 129.6 54.4 184.0 8.0 49.2

5 Germany 77.2 31.4 108.6 4.8 54.0

6 United Kingdom 46.4 36.0 82.4 3.6 57.6

7 Korea 46.2 26.3 72.5 3.2 60.8

8 Taiwan 34.6 21.7 56.3 2.5 63.2

9 France 31.8 21.2 53.1 2.3 65.6

10 Malaysia 28.2 10.9 39.1 1.7 67.3

11 Italy 28.1 10.7 38.8 1.7 69.0

12 Netherlands 12.6 24.3 36.9 1.6 70.6

13 Ireland 27.4 8.2 35.6 1.6 72.1

14 Brazil 21.2 13.9 35.0 1.5 73.7

15 Singapore 15.3 19.6 34.9 1.5 75.2

All other trading partners 362.6 204.5 567.1 24.8

Top 15 countries 1,107.1 611.8 1,718.9 75.2

Total, all countries 1,469.7 816.3 2,286.0 100.0

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau 

of Transportation Statistics, based on data from U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. International Trade 

Commission, available at http://dataweb.usitc.gov/ as of August 2005.
FREIGHT IN AMERICA 47

• the top 50 gateways handled 80 percent ($1.8 

trillion) of U.S.-international trade.42

In 2004, the top fi ve gateways represented the 

three transportation modes—water, air, and land 

(table 24):

1. The John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport 

was the leading gateway for international trade 

by value with over $125.3 billion in air cargo. 

2. The Port of Los Angeles ranked second in value 

with $121.4 billion in total oceanborne trade. 

3. The Port of Long Beach ranked third with a 

total of $121.3 billion in export-import trade.

42 Ranking of the leading freight gateways is based on the value 

of traded goods instead of the weight because weight data for land 

exports are not collected by U.S. authorities.

Table 24 shows the top 25 freight gateways 

ranked by value of total trade. Throughout the 

1990s, JFK Airport was the leading gateway for 

overall merchandise trade by total value of shipments. In 2004, JFK regained the top gateway 

position handling $52.7 billion in export trade and 

$72.6 billion in imports and displacing the Port 

of Los Angeles, which was the leading gateway 

in 2003. Between 1999 and 2003, trade handled 

at the Port of Los Angeles jumped 47 percent in 

value, far above the 14 percent average growth for 

the top 25 gateways. This growth refl ects a major 

increase in trade with Asia and Pacifi c-Rim countries, especially growth in goods from China.

The Port of Los Angeles’ position as the leading 

gateway by value of goods refl ects the specialization among U.S. seaports. The Pacifi c and AtlanFIGURE 16

Modal Shares of U.S. Trade with Canada and Mexico by Value and Weight: 2004

Truck

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Rail Pipeline Air Water Other and 

unknown

Value Weight

Percentage

63.6

28.5

15.2

22.2

5.4

13.3

4.5

0.1

6.5

37.8

3.8 3.3

1

1 Other and unknown includes “fl yaway aircraft” (i.e., aircraft moving from the manufacturer to a customer 

and not carrying any freight), vessels moving under their own power, pedestrians carrying freight, and 

miscellaneous.

NOTE: These data refl ect U.S. import and export trade with Canada and Mexico. Weights of export shipments 

by land modes are estimates from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of 

Transportation Statistics, Transborder Freight Data, as of May 2005. 
48 FREIGHT IN AMERICA

tic coast ports are heavily involved in container 

trade, while the U.S. Gulf Coast ports are primarily involved in dry bulk and tanker trade. Gulf 

ports such as Houston, TX, lead other U.S. ports 

in terms of tonnage of international cargo, including shipment of agricultural, petroleum, coal, and 

other bulk commodities. 

In 2004, over 1.3 billion short tons of international maritime cargo were transported through 

U.S. seaports, with exports accounting for 27 percent and imports accounting for 73 percent of that 

tonnage. Table 25 shows that the ranking of the 

seaports changes when sorted by tonnage rather 

than by cargo value. In 2003, the top three seaport gateways by weight were the Port of Houston (over 126 million tons of freight), followed 

by the Port of South Louisiana (80 million tons) 

and the Port of New York and New Jersey (78 

million tons). The top 20 seaports accounted for 

64 percent of the maritime export tonnage and 72 

percent of the import tonnage.

TABLE 23

Top 5 U.S. Land Ports by U.S.-NAFTA Border Crossings: 2004

Truck Rail

Rank in 

2004 Border

Number of 

crossings

Rank in 

2004 Border

Number of 

crossings

Top 5 U.S.-NAFTA ports 5,940,682 19,351

1 Detroit, MI 1,701,452 1 Port Huron, MI 5,276

2 Laredo, TX 1,391,850 2 Detroit, MI 3,936

3 Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY 1,175,254 3 International Falls, MN 3,720

4 Port Huron, MI 945,962 4 Laredo, TX 3,443

5 Otay Mesa/San Ysidro, CA 726,164 5 Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY 2,976

Top 5 as % of total 52.1 Top 5 as % of total 47.1

U.S.–NAFTA total crossings 11,405,508 Total U.S.-NAFTA 41,111

Top 5 U.S.-Canada ports 4,591,686 18,564

1 Detroit, MI 1,701,452 1 Port Huron, MI 5,276

2 Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY 1,175,254 2 Detroit, MI 3,936

3 Port Huron, MI 945,962 3 International Falls, MN 3,720

4 Champlain-Rouses Pt., NY 397,317 4 Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY 2,976

5 Blaine, WA 371,701 5 Warroad, MN 2,656

Top 5 as % of total 66.5 Top 5 as % of total 55.8

U.S.–Canada total crossings 6,901,820 U.S.-Canada 33,267

Top 5 U.S.-Mexico ports 3,604,137 7,282

1 Laredo, TX 1,391,850 1 Laredo, TX 3,443

2 Otay Mesa/San Ysidro, CA 726,164 2 Eagle Pass, TX 1,653

3 El Paso, TX 719,545 3 Brownsville, TX 998

4 Hidalgo, TX 454,351 4 El Paso, TX 744

5 Calexico East, CA 312,227 5 Nogales, AZ 444

Top 5 as % of total 80.0 Top 5 as % of total 92.8

U.S.–Mexico total crossings 4,503,688 U.S.-Mexico 7,844

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation 

Statistics, based on data from the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Offi ce of Management Reporting, Data Warehouse CD-ROM, August 2005.
FREIGHT IN AMERICA 49

TABLE 24

Top 25 U.S. Freight Gateways, Ranked by Value of Shipments: 2004

(Current $, billions)

Rank Port name Mode

Total U.S. 

trade Exports Imports

Exports as % 

of total

 1 JFK International Airport, NY Air 125.3 52.7 72.6 42.0 

 2 Los Angeles, CA Water 121.4 16.4 105.1 13.5 

 3 Long Beach, CA Water 121.3 18.6 102.8 15.3 

 4 Detroit, MI Land 113.8 58.2 55.6 51.1 

 5 Port of New York and New Jersey Water 113.5 23.1 90.4 20.4 

 6 Laredo, TX Land 89.5 38.4 51.1 42.9 

 7 Los Angeles International Airport, CA Air 68.7 33.9 34.8 49.3 

 8 Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY Land 68.3 31.7 36.6 46.5 

 9 Houston, TX Water 66.4 29.2 37.2 44.0 

10 Port Huron, MI Land 65.9 23.6 42.3 35.8 

11 Chicago, IL Air 65.4 25.2 40.1 38.6 

12 San Franscisco International Airport, CA Air 54.6 24.3 30.3 44.5 

13 Charleston, SC Water 46.7 15.4 31.3 32.9 

14 El Paso, TX Land 42.8 18.3 24.4 42.9 

15 Norfolk, VA Water 33.5 12.0 21.5 35.8 

16 Baltimore, MD Water 31.3 6.9 24.4 22.0 

17 Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX Air 31.2 14.6 16.6 46.7 

18 New Orleans, LA Air 30.0 15.2 14.8 50.6 

19 Seattle, WA Water 29.6 6.7 22.9 22.6 

20 Tacoma, WA Water 28.9 5.3 23.6 18.3 

21 Oakland, CA Water 27.3 8.5 18.8 31.1 

22 Savannah, GA Water 26.3 9.7 16.6 36.9 

23 Anchorage, AK Air 26.3 5.7 20.5 21.8 

24 Miami International Airport, FL Air 25.3 16.2 9.1 64.0 

25 Atlanta, GA Air 24.9 10.4 14.6 41.6 

Total U.S. merchandise trade by all modes 2,286.2 816.5 1,469.7 35.7 

Top 25 gateways 1,478.3 520.1 958.2 35.2 

Top 25 gateways as share of U.S. total (%) 64.7 63.7 65.2

NOTE: All data—Trade levels refl ect the mode of transportation as a shipment enters or exits a U.S. Customs port. Flows through individual 

ports are based on reported data collected from U.S. trade documents. Low-value shipments (imports less than $1,250 and exports less 

than $2,500) and intransit shipments are not included in trade data. Air—Data for all airports are based on U.S. port classifi cations and 

include a low level (generally less than 2% to 3% of the total value) of small user-fee airports located in the same region. Air gateways not 

identifi ed by airport name include major airports in that geographic area in addition to small regional airports. Also due to U.S. Census 

Bureau confi dentiality regulations, data for some of the air gateways include courier operations. For example, data for New Orleans International Airport include FedEx air cargo activity in Memphis, TN.

SOURCES: Air—U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Division, special tabulation, October 2005. Water—U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers, Navigation Data Center, special tabulation, November 2005. Land—U.S. Department of Transportation, Research 

and Innovative Technology Adminstration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Transborder Surface Freight Data, October 2005.
50 FREIGHT IN AMERICA

APPENDIX A

Measuring the Nation’s Freight 

Movements

Accurately measuring the magnitude of freight 

movement is a challenge. No single data source 

provides complete and timely information on all 

freight transportation modes for all goods and 

sectors of the economy.

The Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) is the primary source of national- and state-level data on 

domestic freight shipments by American businesses. As a shipper-based survey, the CFS collects 

information on how U.S. establishments transport raw materials and fi nished goods; the types 

of commodities shipped by mode of transportation; the value, weight, origin, and destinations 

of shipments; and the distance shipped. It covers 

establishments classifi ed in the North American 

Industry Classifi cation System (NAICS) as manufacturing, mining, and wholesale trade.

Produced as part of the Economic Census, the 

CFS allows analysis of the nation’s freight activities within the context of changes in the nation’s 

economy. The CFS data are helpful in market 

analysis of how businesses use competing transTABLE 25

U.S. Maritime Freight Gateways, Ranked by Value and Weight: 2003

Value (current $, billions) Weight (short tons, millions)

Rank by 

value Seaport name

U.S. 

maritime 

trade Exports Imports

Rank by 

weight Seaport name

U.S. 

maritime 

trade Exports Imports

 1 Los Angeles, CA 122.1 16.9 105.2 1 Houston, TX 126.1 36.2 89.9 

 2 New York and New Jersey 101.2 24.3 76.9 2 South Louisiana, LA 80.3 49.5 30.8 

 3 Long Beach, CA 95.9 17.2 78.7 3 New York and New Jersey 77.9 8.7 69.2 

 4 Houston, TX 49.9 21.4 28.5 4 Beaumont, TX 68.7 5.4 63.3 

 5 Charleston, SC 39.4 13.4 26.0 5 Corpus Christi, TX 53.4 8.6 44.8 

 6 Norfolk Harbor, VA 29.5 11.0 18.5 6 Long Beach, CA 51.3 14.2 37.2 

 7 Tacoma, WA 26.3 5.2 21.1 7 New Orleans, LA 48.7 27.9 20.8 

 8 Baltimore, MD 26.0 5.7 20.3 8 Texas City, TX 43.4 3.2 40.2 

 9 Oakland, CA 25.1 7.8 17.4 9 Los Angeles, CA 41.8 12.7 29.2 

10 Seattle, WA 23.1 5.7 17.4 10 Lake Charles, LA 31.8 3.9 27.8 

11 Savannah, GA 21.3 7.4 13.9 11 Freeport, TX 25.1 2.4 22.7 

12 New Orleans, LA 19.4 11.2 8.2 12 Mobile, AL 25.0 7.5 17.5 

13 Miami, FL 16.6 6.8 9.8 13 Norfolk Harbor, VA 24.2 15.0 9.1 

14 Portland, OR 11.8 3.0 8.8 14 Baltimore, MD 24.0 5.1 18.9 

15 Jacksonville, FL 11.2 2.3 8.9 15 Baton Rouge, LA 23.1 4.4 18.6 

16 Everglades, FL 10.5 4.3 6.2 16 Savannah, GA 21.3 8.2 13.1 

17 Philadelphia, PA 10.3 0.6 9.7 17 Pascagoula, MS 20.8 3.3 17.5 

18 Morgan City, LA 10.1 0.2 9.9 18 Plaquemines, LA 18.9 10.4 8.5 

19 Corpus Christie, TX 9.9 2.0 7.9 19 Philadelphia, PA 18.5 0.2 18.3 

20 Beaumont, TX 9.6 1.0 8.7 20 Arthur, TX 18.4 4.2 14.3 

Total, U.S. waterborne trade 

(all seaports) 811.1 206.2 604.9

Total U.S. waterborne trade 

(all seaports) 1,211.5 363.5 848.0 

Total, top 20 seaports 669.2 167.4 501.8 Total, top 20 seaports 842.7 231.2 611.6 

Top 20 seaports as share of 

U.S. maritime total (percent) 82.5 81.2 83.0 

Top 20 seaports as share of 

U.S. maritime total (percent) 69.6 63.6 72.1 

NOTE: Data do not include intransit (i.e., shipments transiting U.S. ports from one foreign country to another but not counted as part of U.S. 

offi cial merchandise trade).

SOURCES: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistic, based 

on: Value—U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division, August 2004; Weight—special tabulations from U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers, Waterborne Commerce of United States data, November 2004.
FREIGHT IN AMERICA 51

portation modes to move freight and facilitate 

production and trade activities. Although the CFS 

is the most comprehensive data source on nationwide freight movements, there are important data 

gaps in the coverage of certain industries and 

commodities and in the domestic movements of 

imports. Additional data must be used to fi ll gaps 

in CFS coverage.

To present a more complete national estimate of 

the overall freight moved on the nation’s transportation system in 2002, Bureau of Transportation 

Statistics (BTS) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Offi ce of Freight Management 

and Operations have supplemented the CFS data 

with estimates from other sources on freight shipments that are not fully measured in the CFS. 

These additional estimates cover farm shipments to 

processing plants, crude petroleum pipeline shipments, waterborne imports and exports, and logs 

and wood in the rough. They also cover shipments 

by the service, retail, and construction sectors as 

well as municipal solid waste. The new composite 

national estimates provide the benchmark data for 

the FHWA Freight Analysis Framework II. Information on the methods and data sources used in 

developing these composite estimates will be available by summer 2006 at the agencies’ websites 

www.bts.gov and www.fhwa.dot.gov. 

This report compares the fi nal data from the 

2002 CFS with data from the 1997 and 1993 

CFS to show changes in modal shares, distance 

shipped, shipment sizes, and ton-miles generated on the national transportation network. It is 

important to note that most of the 1993 and 1997 

freight data presented in this report are revised 

from those published in earlier BTS publications. 

They were adjusted to account for changes in 

industry coverage as a result of the transition to 

the NAICS code.

Coverage and Limitations of the CFS 

Freight Data

The 2002 CFS is the most recent nationwide 

shipper survey of commodities shipped in the 

United States. It follows the 1993 and 1997 CFS 

and its predecessor, the 1977 Commodity Transportation Survey. The Bureau of Transportation 

Statistics and the Census Bureau cosponsor the 

CFS as part of the quinquennial (every 5 years) 

Economic Census (BTS and Census 2003). The 

Census Bureau collects CFS data from a sample 

of manufacturing, mining, and wholesale trade 

industries in the United States. The survey excludes 

shipments by establishments classifi ed in the North 

American Industry Classifi cation System (NAICS) 

as farms, forestry, fi shing, government agencies, 

construction, transportation, and most retail and 

service industries. The 2002 survey did not capture most shipments from logging establishments 

because under NAICS, the classifi cation of this 

industry moved from manufacturing (in-scope for 

the CFS) to agriculture (out-of-scope for the CFS). 

Further, because the CFS is a survey of domestic 

establishments and measures shipments leaving an 

establishment’s facility, it includes exports but not 

imports (unless the imported goods are received by 

an in-scope domestic business at the port of entry 

and reshipped by that business). Although the 

initial 1993 CFS design included establishments 

from the oil and gas extraction industry, all three 

surveys exclude shipments of crude petroleum by 

this industry because of the way these companies 

record and report “shipment” information. 

Reliability of the CFS Data Used in 

this Report

The CFS data presented in this report are derived 

from a sample survey and may differ from the 

actual, unknown values for the entire population 

of businesses they represent. Statisticians defi ne 

this difference as the total error of the estimate. 

When describing the accuracy of survey results, it 

is convenient to discuss total error as the sum of 

sampling error and nonsampling error. Sampling 

error is the average difference between the estimate 

and the result that would be obtained from a complete enumeration of the sampling frame conducted 

under the same survey conditions. Nonsampling 

error encompasses all other factors that contribute 

to the total error of a sample survey estimate.

The sampling error of the estimates reported in 

the CFS can be estimated from the selected sample 

because the sample was selected using probability 

sampling. Common measures related to sampling 

error are the sampling variance, the standard error, 

and the coeffi cient of variation (CV). The sampling 

variance is the squared difference, averaged over 

all possible samples of the same size and design, 

between the estimator and its average value. The 

standard error is the square root of the sampling 

variance. The CV expresses the standard error as 

a percentage of the estimate to which it refers. 
52 FREIGHT IN AMERICA

Nonsampling errors are diffi cult to measure 

and can be introduced through inadequacies 

in the questionnaire, nonresponse, inaccurate 

reporting by respondents, errors in the application of survey procedures, incorrect recording of 

answers, and errors in data entry and processing. 

Data users should take into account both the measures of sampling error and the potential effects of 

nonsampling error when using the CFS estimates. 

See the CFS source cited below for detailed discussion of reliability of the CFS data and estimates 

of standard errors. Additional information on (1) 

comparability of 2002 CFS with the 1993 and 

1997 CFS, (2) reliability of the CFS estimates, and 

(3) sample design, data collection, and estimation 

is available at http://www.bts.gov/cfs/prod.html. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, 

Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics and U.S. 

Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, 

“2002 Economic Census: Transportation Commodity Flow Survey, Final Report,” December 

2003, EC02TCF-US.

APPENDIX B

Why the 2002 Composite Estimates 

in this Report Differ from 

Preliminary Estimates

The 2002 composite estimates in this report were 

jointly developed by the Research and Innovative 

Technology Administration’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) and the Federal Highway 

Administration’s (FHWA’s) Offi ce of Freight Management and Operations.43 An earlier BTS report, 

Freight Shipments in America, issued in 2004, also 

presents composite estimates for 2002, but the 

numbers were preliminary and are not the same. 

The table below compares the estimates in this 

report for value, tons, and ton-miles with those in 

Freight Shipments in America. BTS considers the 

jointly developed composite estimates to be more 

reliable and complete than earlier estimates because 

of improvements in estimation methods and 

expanded industry-commodity coverage. As the 

43 The performing organizations for this project were MacroSys 

Research and Technology and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, who worked under the management supervision of BTS and 

FHWA.

table shows, the new estimates for total value and 

total tonnage are larger than the preliminary estimates in the earlier report. This is largely because 

the new estimates include previously uncovered 

sectors, such as construction, retail, services, and 

municipal solid waste. However, the new estimate 

for total ton-miles is about 2.1 percent (or 97 billion ton-miles) less than the BTS preliminary estimate. This difference is primarily due to revisions 

between the preliminary and fi nal 2002 Commodity Flow Survey data. The fi nal CFS ton-miles were 

67 billion tons less than the preliminary CFS data. 

The remaining difference of 30 billion ton-miles 

was due to improvements in methodology, i.e., the 

use of a more disaggregated method of estimating 

the distance traveled per shipment. While the new 

composite estimates were derived at the commodity, industry, and mode of transportation levels, the 

former estimates were derived mostly at the modal 

level. The new estimates for water transportation 

are lower than the preliminary estimates because 

in the new method some shipments of crude oil 

and petroleum products were correctly reassigned 

to pipelines to avoid double counting. 

In a separate effort to improve on the estimate 

of overall ton-miles (see fi gure 5 and its source), 

BTS reported 4,366 billion as the total national 

ton-miles for 2002, a number that is fairly comparable to the new composite estimates. The difference of 43 billion ton-miles between that estimate 

and the jointly developed composite estimate in 

the above table is less than one percentage point. 

This difference is due mainly to different methodologies and defi nitions.

REFERENCES

Association of American Railroads (AAR). 2005a. 

Class I Railroad Statistics. Page 2. Available online 

at: www.aar.org, as of July 2005. Washington, DC: 

July 2005. 

Association of American Railroads (AAR). 2005b. 

Railroad Facts 2004. Page 38. Washington, DC: 

October 2004.

Association of American Railroads (AAR). 2005c. Rail 

Intermodal Transportation. Page 1. Available online 

at: www.aar.org, as of July 2005. Washington, DC: 

June 2005b. 

Association of Oil Pipe Lines (AOPL). 2004a. The Liquid Pipeline Industry in the United States: Where 

It’s Been. Where It’s Going. Washington, DC: April 

2004.
FREIGHT IN AMERICA 53

Association of Oil Pipe Lines (AOPL). 2004b. Shifts 

in Petroleum Transportation. Table 1. Washington, 

DC: June 2004.

Federal Express (FedEx 1), Investor Relations: Financial History, Selected Financial and Operating Data, 

FedEx Express, Highlights- 30 year, available online 

at: http://www.fedex.com/us/investorrelations/fi nancialinfo/downloads/, as of September 6, 2005.

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com/us/about/today/companies/corporation/facts.

html, as of September 6, 2005.

Raj, D. and Chandhok, P. 1998. Sample Survey Theory, Narosa Publishing House, London, United 

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Commerce of the United States, 2004. Part 5. 

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2003 (CBSA-EST2003-01). Internet Release Date: 

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TABLE 26

Comparison of Estimates of U.S. Total Commercial Activity for 2002

Transportation mode Published preliminary estimates1 New composite estimates2

Value 

(billion $)

Tons 

(million)

Ton–miles 

(billion)

Value 

(billion $)

Tons 

(million)

Ton–miles 

(billion)

All modes 10,460 15,815 4,506 13,052 19,487 4,409 

Truck 6,660 9,197 1,449 9,075 11,712 1,515 

Rail 388 1,895 1,254 392 1,979 1,372 

Water 867 2,345 733 673 1,668 485 

Air (incl. truck and air) 777 10 15 563 6 13 

Pipeline 285 1,656 753 896 3,529 688 

Multiple modes 1,111 213 226 1,121 229 233 

Unknown modes 373 499 77 331 365 103 

1 From Table 1 Commercial Freight Activity in the United States by Mode of Transportation: 1993, 1997, 

2002 of Freight Shipments in America report, released April 2004. The value data as published were 

adjusted for infl ation and are in 2000 chained dollars. This was done to make the value data comparable to 

1997 and 1993, the other CFS years.

2 From Table 1 of this report Freight in America, released January 2006.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau 

of Transportation Statistics, January 2006.
54 FREIGHT IN AMERICA

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