Satellite industry accounts expand on the national income and product accounts and the input-output accounts, and supplement these accounts by focusing on a particular aspect of economic activity. The TSAs capture transportation activities carried out by non-transportation industries for their own purposes and transportation activities carried out by households through the use of an automobile.

The TSAs show the contribution of both for-hire, in-house, and household transportation services. For-hire transportation consists of the air, rail, truck, passenger and ground transportation, pipeline, and other support services provided by transportation firms such as railroads, transit agencies, common carrier trucking companies, and pipelines, to industries and the public on a fee-basis. In-house transportation consists of air, rail, water, and truck services produced by businesses for their own use. Business in-house transportation includes privately owned and operated vehicles of all body types, used primarily on public rights of way, and the supportive services to store, maintain, and operate those vehicles. A baker’s delivery truck is an example of business in-house transportation. Household transportation covers transportation provided by households for their own use through the use of a vehicle, measured by the depreciation cost associated with household ownership of motor vehicles. Air passenger travel is included in for-hire air transportation. The time households spend operating a private motor vehicle for personal use is not included, because it is not within the scope of the U.S. Input-Output (I- O) accounts, on which the TSAs are built. The I-O accounts, by design, do not include unpaid labor, volunteer work, and other non-market production.