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	2009
Air carriersa	N	N	39	36	63	102	70	96	96	96	96	94	91	87	83	72	(R) 80	(R) 85	(R) 87	(R) 87	(R) 88	76
Major air carriers	N	N	N	N	N	13	14	11	12	13	13	13	15	15	15	14	(R) 15	17	21	22	22	23
Other air carriers	N	N	N	N	N	89	56	85	84	83	83	81	76	72	68	(R) 58	(R) 65	(R) 68	(R) 66	(R) 65	(R) 66	53
Railroads	607	568	517	477	480	500	530	541	553	550	559	555	560	571	552	549	556	560	559	563	565	563
Class I railroads	106	76	71	73	39	25	14	11	10	9	9	9	8	8	7	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	556
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	726,928
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	628
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) 2,267	(R) 2,316	(R) 2,358	(R) 2,380	(R) 2,348	2,338
Hazardous liquide	N	N	N	N	N	171	171	197	205	216	219	215	220	220	217	234	(R) 281	(R) 307	(R) 337	(R) 343	(R) 350	349
Natural gas transmission	N	N	420	432	474	724	866	975	971	957	889	885	844	837	920	948	(R) 946	(R) 975	(R) 1,004	(R) 1,012	(R) 996	1,027
Natural gas distributionf	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) 1,364	(R) 1,374	(R) 1,368	(R) 1,380	(R) 1,357	1,317

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 Dec. 22, 2006; Dec. 21, 2007; Dec. 19, 2008, and Dec. 18, 2009. 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 The value given for 1985 is actually for 1986. The number of Hazardous liquid pipeline operators is not available for prior years.

^f 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".

2003-09: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information, Accounting and Reporting Directives, All Carrier Groupings (Washington, DC), nos. 263, 270, 276, 279, 281, 284, and 290, available at http://www.bts.gov/programs/airline_information/accounting_and_reporting_directives/ as of Feb. 1, 2011.

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.

1999-2009: 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.

2002-09: 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, January 2010, and January 2011.

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 May 10, 2011.

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, September 2009 and January 2011.