Trucks Carry the Most Freight by Weight and Value

Contact BTS 03-05 Dave Smallen 202-366-5568

Friday, January 7, 2005 - Trucks carry three-fourths of the value of freight shipped in the United States and two-thirds of the weight, according to revised numbers released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (Table 1). 

The revised numbers from BTS' Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) show that trucks moved more than $6.2 trillion and 7.8 billion tons of manufactured goods and raw materials in 2002 (Table 2). 

Based on ton-miles, a measure combining weight and distance, rail and trucking each accounted for 40 percent of freight (Table 3).  A ton-mile is one ton moved one mile.

Multiple mode shipments using more than one form of transportation were second to trucking in value, at $1.1 trillion for a 13 percent share, while carrying only 216 million tons or 2 percent by weight (Table 4 and table 5).

Rail was the second most used mode by weight, carrying 1.9 billion tons of freight for a 16 percent share but only $310 billion or 4 percent of goods by value (Tables 4&5).

By value the largest commodity groups shipped by truck included mixed freight, motorized and other vehicles and electronic and other electrical equipment. By weight, the largest commodities shipped by truck were sand and gravel, nonmetallic minerals, and gasoline and aviation fuels.

For all modes combined, the largest commodity groups by value were electronic and other electrical equipment, motorized and other vehicles, and mixed manufactured freight.

By shipment tonnage, the largest commodities were sand and gravel, coal, gasoline and aviation fuels, and nonmetallic minerals.

The CFS also shows that between 1993 and 2002, the total tonnage of freight transported in America grew 20 percent to almost 12 billion tons while the total value of that freight grew 44 percent to $8.4 trillion. 

In 2002, $924 billion of freight - more than $1 out of $10 of all freight shipments - originated in California.  Other leading states in the value of goods shipped were Texas, Ohio, Illinois, and Michigan. 

The CFS presents the latest information on freight movements in the United States by all modes.  Based on a nationwide survey, it describes the goods transported by American businesses in freight-related sectors consisting of mining, manufacturing, wholesale, and some retail firms.  The survey reports freight trends by form of transportation, type of commodity, distance shipped and shipment size for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and more than 60 large metropolitan areas.

The CFS is conducted by BTS in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau as part of the five-year Economic Census.  Prior surveys were undertaken in 1993 and 1997 and plans are currently underway for the 2007 survey.  The 2002 Commodity Flow Survey data products and information on survey coverage, contents, and methods can be found at the BTS website at www.bts.gov/programs/freight_transportation/.

Table 1. Share of U.S. Freight Shipments by Mode of Transportation: 2002

(Commodity Flow Survey Data¹ )

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NOTE: The value of goods measured in the CFS includes the market value of goods used in production and final demand.  Hence the goods may be counted more than once in the production cycle.  The tonnage of products could also be counted multiple times depending on the number times the product is transported in the production and consumption cycle.

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

¹ The Commodity Flow Survey is estimated to capture approximately 80% of the value of goods shipped in the United States and over 70% of tons and ton-miles.

² Other multiple modal combinations include truck and rail, truck and water, rail and water, and other multiple modes.

³ Examples of other modes are bus and recreational vehicle.

SOURCE:  U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Commodity Flow Survey 2002, December 2004.

Table 2. Value, Tons, and Ton-Miles of U.S. Freight Shipments by Trucks: 2002

(Commodity Flow Survey Data )

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See Table 1 for notes

SOURCE:  U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Commodity Flow Survey 2002, December 2004.

Table 3. Ton-Miles of U.S. Freight Shipments by Mode of Transportation: 2002

(Commodity Flow Survey Data

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See Table 1 for notes

SOURCE:  U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Commodity Flow Survey 2002, December 2004.

Table 4. Value of U.S. Freight Shipments by Mode of Transportation: 2002

(Commodity Flow Survey Data )

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See Table 1 for notes

SOURCE:  U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Commodity Flow Survey 2002, December 2004.

Table 5. Tons of U.S. Freight Shipments by Mode of Transportation: 2002

(Commodity Flow Survey Data )

Excel | CSV

See Table 1 for notes

SOURCE:  U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Commodity Flow Survey 2002, December 2004.