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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

Economics, employment, and finance

Legacy ID
1546
Subscribe to Economics, employment, and finance

Industry Snapshots: Uses of Transportation 2017 Update

Transportation activities made up almost 4 percent of the U.S. economy in 2016, a total of $734.7 billion. Transportation also contributed indirectly to the economy by enabling the production of goods and services as non-transportation industries required $951 billion of transportation services to produce output.

Certificated Air Carrier Fuel Consumption and Travel

KEY:  R = revised.

(a)  Aircraft are aircraft carrying passengers or cargo for hire under 14 CFR 121 (large aircraft-more than 30 seats) and 14 CFR 135 (small aircraft-30 seats or less). This definition is more encompassing than that in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Aviation Forecast- jet aircraft, 60 seats or more carrying passengers or cargo for hire. Beginning in 1990, the number of aircraft is the monthly average reported in use for the last three months of the year. Prior to 1990, it was the number of aircraft reported in use during December of a given year...

Fuel Consumption by Mode of Transportation

KEY: kWh = kilowatt-hour; N = data do not exist; R = revised; U = data are not available.

(a) Domestic operations only.

(b) Includes fuel used in air taxi operations, but not commuter operations. Data for 1996 are estimated using new information on no respondents and are therefore not comparable to earlier years. See the accuracy statement in the appendix for more detailed information.

(c) Data for 2007-2013 were calculated using a new methodology developed by FHWA. Data for these years are based on new categories and are not comparable to previous years. The new category...

March 2018 North American Freight Numbers

Freight between the U.S. and other North American countries (Canada and Mexico) in March 2018:

  • Most-used mode: Truck moved $66.5 billion of freight, up 4.1 percent compared to March 2017 
  • Second mode: Rail moved $16.1 billion of freight, up 1.9 percent compared to March 2017