U.S. Freight on the Move: Highlights from the 2007 CommodityFlow Survey Preliminary Data

More than 13 billion tons of freight, valued at $11.8 trillion, were transported nearly 3.5 trillion ton-miles1 in the United States during 2007, according to preliminary estimates from the 2007 Commodity Flow Survey (CFS).2 The tonnage, value, and ton-miles of 2007 freight shipments all increased over 2002 totals. Tonnage was up 12 percent, infl ation-adjusted value up 13 percent, and tonmiles up 11 percent (see box A). On a typical day in 2007, over 35.7 million tons of goods, valued at $32.4 billion, moved nearly 9.6 billion ton-miles on the nation’s transportation network. Nearly 93 percent of the total tonnage and 81 percent of the total value of freight were shipped by means of a single transportation mode, while the remainder was shipped using two or more modes. The CFS, a survey of shippers sponsored by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) in partnership with the Census Bureau, provides a detailed, multimodal picture of national freight fl ows. The survey is the only publicly available source of national commodity fl ow data for the highway mode. CFS data are collected every 5 years as a component of the national Economic Census and provide a benchmark on the value, tonnage, ton-miles, distance shipped, and mode used to transport commodities. Analysis and research utilizing CFS data are used to make decisions in the public and private sectors involving policy, infrastructure, and the economy. The 2007 CFS data and results presented in this report are preliminary. Final CFS data are scheduled for release in December 2009. Transportation modes used to move freight included trucking, air transportation, railroads, pipelines, and water transportation.