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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 1-2: Number of Air Carriers, Railroads, Interstate Motor Carriers, Marine Vessel Operators, and Pipeline Operators

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Table 1-2: Number of Air Carriers, Railroads, Interstate Motor Carriers, Marine Vessel Operators, and Pipeline Operators

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  1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Air carriersa N N 39 36 63 102 70 96 96 96 96 94 91 87 83 80 83 82 98 110 95
Major air carriers N N N N N 13 14 11 12 13 13 13 15 15 15 14 14 17 21 22 22
Other air carriers N N N N N 89 56 85 84 83 83 81 76 72 68 66 69 65 77 88 73
Railroads 607 568 517 477 480 500 530 541 553 550 559 555 560 571 552 549 556 560 559 563 565
Class I railroads 106 76 71 73 39 25 14 11 10 9 9 9 8 8 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
Other railroads 501 492 446 404 441 475 516 530 543 541 550 546 552 563 545 542 549 553 552 556 558
Interstate motor carriersb U U U U U U 216,000 346,000 379,000 417,000 477,486 517,297 560,393 592,909 600,104 674,314 677,317 679,744 692,789 711,792 715,011
Marine vessel operatorsc U U U U U U U 1,381 1,348 1,311 1,235 1,174 1,114 1,063 877 798 767 733 682 707 652
Pipeline operatorsd N N 1,123 1,682 2,243 2,163 2,198 2,367 2,327 2,281 2,236 2,238 2,157 2,135 2,186 2,216 (R) 2,256 (R) 2,304 (R) 2,333 2,345 2,242
Hazardous liquid N N N N N 171 171 197 205 216 219 215 220 220 (R) 217 (R) 234 (R) 280 (R) 306 (R) 331 340 339
Natural gas transmission N N 420 432 474 724 866 975 971 957 889 885 844 837 (R) 920 (R) 948 (R) 945 (R) 974 (R) 1,001 1,002 967
Natural gas distributione N N 938 1,500 1,932 1,485 1,382 1,444 1,397 1,365 1,375 1,393 1,363 1,341 1,331 1,311 (R) 1,356 (R) 1,364 (R) 1,349 1,357 1,285

KEY: N = data do not exist; R = revised; U = data are unavailable.

a Carrier groups are categorized based on their annual operating revenues as major, national, large regional, and medium regional. The thresholds were last adjusted July 1, 1999, and the threshold for major air carriers is currently $1 billion. The other air carrier category contains all national, large regional, and medium regional air carriers. Beginning in 2003, regional air carriers are not required to report financial data which may result in under reporting of "Other carriers" in this table.

b 1960-2005 figures are for the fiscal year, October through September. 2006-08 figures are snapshots dated December 22, 2006; December 21, 2007; and December 19, 2008. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration deletes motor carriers from the Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) when they receive an official notice of a change in status. This most often occurs when a safety audit or compliance review is attempted. As a result, inactive carriers may be included in the MCMIS.

c The printed source materials do not contain totals for the number of operators, and data files from which the figures can be determined are not available prior to 1993.

d There is some overlap among the operators for the pipeline modes. Therefore the total number of pipeline operators is lower than the sum for the three pipeline modes.

e In 1975 and 1980, natural gas distribution includes master meter and mobile home park natural gas distribution operators. A master meter system is a pipeline system for distributing gas within, but not limited to, a definable area, such as a mobile home park, housing project, or apartment complex, where the operator purchases metered gas from an outside source for resale through a gas distribution pipeline system. The gas distribution pipeline system supplies the ultimate consumer who either purchases the gas directly through a meter or by other means, such as by rents.

SOURCES

Air carriers:

1960-2002: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information, Air Carrier Financial Statistics Quarterly (Washington, DC: Fourth quarter issues), "Alphabetical List of Air Carriers by Carrier Group".

2003: Ibid., special tabulation, Oct. 5, 2004.

2004-08: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information, Air Carrier Financial Statistics Quarterly (Washington, DC: Fourth quarter issues), available at https://www.bts.gov/pdc/user/products/src/searchProduct.xml?pdc_page=1&c=-1&pdc_end=15&pdc_start=1&pdc_sort=2+DESC%2C+4+DESC&qt=Air+Carrier+Financial+Statistics+ as of March 12, 2010.

Railroads:

1960-85: Association of American Railroads, Railroad Ten-Year Trends, Vol. 2 (Washington, DC), table I-2.

1990-98: Ibid., Vol. 16 (Washington, DC: 1999), p. 10.

1999-2008: Ibid., Railroad Facts (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), p. 3.

Interstate motor carriers:

1990-2001: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Motor Carrier Management Information System, and personal communication, Nov. 6, 2001.

2002-08: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Analysis and Information Online, available at http://ai.volpe.dot.gov/mcspa.asp as of June 4, 2004, and personal communication, January 2007 and January 2010.

Marine vessel operators:

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Waterborne Transportation Lines of the United States, Volume 1, National Summaries (New Orleans, LA: Annual issues), table 13, available at http://www.ndc.iwr.usace.army.mil/veslchar/veslchar.htm as of March 10, 2010.

Pipeline operators:

U.S. Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Pipeline Safety Office, Gas Distribution Systems, Gas Transmission & Gathering Systems and Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Systems Annual Reporting, personal communication, as of September 2009.