• The U.S. freight transportation system moved 55.0 million tons of goods valued at more than $49.3 billion each day in 2013—about 63.4 tons of freight per capita per year. This was an increase of 2.0 percent from 2012.
• In 2013 freight tonnage and value rose by 6.3 and 8.0 percent, respectively, over 2007 levels, fully rebounding from the 2008–2009 recession decline.
• The trend continued of trucks carrying the largest shares by value, tons, and ton-miles for shipments moved 750 or fewer miles. Rail is the dominant mode by tons and ton-miles of shipments ranging from 750 to 2,000 miles, while air, multiple, and other/unknown modes accounted for a majority of the value of shipments moved more than 2,000 miles, according to the latest available Freight Analysis Framework data.
• The value of U.S.-international trade increased from $2.6 trillion in 2000 to nearly $4.0 trillion in 2014 (adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index), a 44.5 percent increase. Trade with Canada and Mexico increased by 32.8 percent over the same period. The growth in trade has created additional traffic between international gateways and domestic destinations.
• More than 400 freight transportation gateways, including airports, border crossings, and seaports, handled international cargo in 2013, but the top 25 gateways handled nearly $2,406 billion (62.3 percent) of total U.S.-international trade.
• Shifts in oil production have affected transportation patterns of energy commodity movements in recent years. Class I railroads carried almost 500 thousand carloads of crude oil in 2014, a 50-fold increase from 9,500 carloads in 2008.

FIGURE 3 Freight Flows by Highway, Railroad, and Waterway: 2011

SOURCES: Highways: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Freight Analysis Framework, Version 3.5, 2015; Rail: Based on Surface Transportation Board, Annual Carload Waybill Sample and rail freight flow assignments done by Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Inland Waterways: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Institute or Water Resources, Annual Vessel Operating Activity and Lock Performance Monitoring System data, September 2015.