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U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

Table 1a. Shipment Characteristics by Mode of Transportation for the United States: 2007

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Table 1a. Shipment Characteristics by Mode of Transportation for the United States: 2007

[Estimates are based on final data from the 2007 Commodity Flow Survey. Because of rounding, estimates may not be additive]

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Mode of transportation 2007 Value
(million $)
2007 Tons
(thousands)
2007 Ton-miles1
(millions)
2007 Average miles per shipment Value CV2 Tons CV Ton-miles CV Average miles per shipment CV
All modes 11,684,872 12,543,425 3,344,658 619 0.8 1.6 3.6 2.5
Single modes 9,539,037 11,698,128 2,894,251 234 1.1 1.5 4.2 4.3
Truck 3 8,335,789 8,778,713 1,342,104 206 1.2 1.3 1.4 4.5
For-hire truck 4,955,700 4,075,136 1,055,646 599 1.5 1.8 1.7 5.2
Private truck 3,380,090 4,703,576 286,457 57 1.4 1.9 1.7 3.6
Rail 436,420 1,861,307 1,344,040 728 6.8 6.2 8.7 4.6
Water 114,905 403,639 157,314 520 11 8.1 11.5 13.1
Shallow draft 91,004 343,307 117,473 144 12.8 9.4 13.2 40.3
Great Lakes S 17,792 6,887 657 S 23.8 22.9 15.3
Deep draft 23,058 42,540 32,954 923 17.5 12.3 23.9 12
Air (included truck and air) 252,276 3,611 4,510 1,304 8.2 10.4 9.6 2.2
Pipeline 4 399,646 650,859 S S 6.6 6.5 S S
Multiple modes 1,866,723 573,729 416,642 975 1.8 5.3 5.1 2.3
Parcel, U.S.P.S. or courier 1,561,874 33,900 27,961 975 2.1 2.6 3 2.4
Truck and rail 187,248 225,589 196,772 1,007 5.6 6.2 5 6.3
Truck and water 58,389 145,521 98,396 1,429 12.5 15.3 15.6 9
Rail and water 13,892 54,878 47,111 1,928 19.2 26.9 27.6 13.1
Other multiple modes 45,320 113,841 46,402 1,182 13.3 8.7 11.4 14
Other and unknown modes 279,113 271,567 33,764 116 7.8 14 9.2 13

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

1 Ton-miles estimates are based on estimated distances traveled along a modeled transportation network.
2 Coefficient of Variation.
3 "Truck" as a single mode includes any shipment that was made by private truck only, by for-hire truck only, or by a combination of private and for-hire truck.
4 Estimates for pipeline exclude shipments of crude petroleum.

NOTES: Value-of-shipment estimates are reported in current prices. Estimated measures of sampling variability for each estimate known as coefficients of variation (CV) are also provided in these tables. More information on sampling error, confidentiality protection, nonsampling error, sample design, and definitions may be found at http://www.bts.gov/cfs.

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, 2007 Economic Census: Transportation Commodity Flow Survey, December 2009.