Statistics: USA Rail, Truck, and Water Transportation

Posted on November 13, 2014 by
Average Miles of track,
# of Rail Tonnage Length road, or
Carloads 2010 in tons of haul navigable water
Class 1 Rail 29,200,000 1,851,000,000 914 95,700
Class II & III Rail 7,800,000 600,000,000 32 43,000
Truck 8,778,000,000 4,016,000
Inland water 532,000,000 25,320
The U.S. Bureau of Census and U.S. Department of Transportation 2007:
Tons Ton Miles
Total Movements 12,543,000,000 3,345,000,000,000
Single Mode Movements
   Truck 8,779,000,000 1,342,000,000,000
   Rail 1,861,000,000 1,344,000,000,000
   Waterway 404,000,000 157,000,000,000
Multi-mode movements
   Truck/Rail 226,000,000 197,000,000,000
   Truck/Water 145,000,000 98,000,000,000
   Rail/Water 55,000,000 47,000,000,000
   Unknown 1,097,000,000 160,000,000,000
Agriculture-related Shipments—volumes, All modes of transport:
Cereal Grains (02) 514,000,000 tons for 203,000,000,000 ton/miles
Ag Products (03) 212,000,000 tons for   88,000,000,000 ton/miles
Animal Feeds/Proteins (04) 246,000,000 tons for   76,000,000,000 ton/miles
Milled Grain Products (06) 120,000,000 tons for 51,000,000,000 ton/miles
Other Foodstuffs/Oils (07) 468,000,000 tons for 171,000,000,000 ton/miles
Non-agricultural products, all modes of transport by volume
Coal 25%, Chemicals/plastics/rubber 10%, Sand/gravel 7%, Metals/machines 6%, Petroleum/products 5%, wood products 3%, Fertilizer 2%

Source: Keith, K. Jan 2013. Maintaining a track record of success. Expanding rail infrastructure to accommodate growth in agriculture and other sectors. TRC Consulting.

The tables below can be found at these links, and a lot more
http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/freight_analysis/nat_freight_stats/docs/12factsfigures/index.htm
http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/freight_analysis/nat_freight_stats/docs/12factsfigures/pdfs/fff2012_highres.pdf
Table 2-1. Weight of Shipments by Transportation Mode 2011
(Millions of tons)
2011
Total Domestic Exports Imports
Total 17,622 15,336 895 1,390
Truck 11,301 11,065 107 130
Rail 1,895 1,695 108 92
Water 825 501 75 248
Air, air & truck 17 3 5 10
Multiple modes & mail 1,618 409 547 662
Pipeline 1,652 1,412 6 235
Other & unknown 313 251 48 14
35,244
The largest percentage of goods movement occurs close to home. Approximately 50 percent of the weight and 40 percent of the value of goods were moved less than 100 miles between origin and destination in 2007. Less than 10 percent of the weight and 18 percent of the value of goods were moved more than 1,000 miles. Distance, as used in this publication, refers to the Great Circle Distance, which is commonly called “as-the-crow-flies.”
Table 2-3. Total Freight Moved by Distance Band: 2007
Distance Band (miles) Weight Ton-Miles
Percent Cumulative Percent Percent Cumulative Percent
Below 100 51 51 7 7
100–249 19 71 10 17
250–499 11 82 13 29
500–749 5 87 9 39
750–999 4 90 10 49
1,000–1,499 6 96 22 71
1,500–2,000 2 98 14 85
Over 2,000 2 100 15 100
Source:   U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Office of Freight Management and Operations, Freight Analysis Framework, version 3.4, 2012.
65 percent of total tonnage but only 19 percent of the value of goods moved in 2011.
Table 2-4. Top Commodities: 2011
Millions of Tons
Total, all commodities 17,622
Gravel 1,612
Cereal grains 1,574
Natural gas, coke, asphalt 1,507
Coal 1,413
Waste/scrap 1,187
Non-metallic mineral products 1,011
Gasoline 989
Fuel oils 799
Crude petroleum 781
Other foodstuffs 571
Source:   U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Office of Freight Management and Operations, Freight Analysis Framework, version 3.4, 2012.
Table 2-4. Top Commodities: 2011
Billions of Dollars
Total, all commodities 16,804
Machinery 2,078
Electronics 1,289
Motorized vehicles 1,237
Mixed freight 980
Pharmaceuticals 815
Textiles/leather 710
Gasoline 677
Misecllaneous manufactured products 663
Plastics/rubber 611
Other foodstuffs 589
Table 2-7. Domestic Mode of Exports and Imports by Tonnage and Value: 2007
Millions of Tons Billions of Dollars
Total 2,027 3,193
Truck 749 1,968
Rail 279 200
Water 151 54
Air, air & truck 2 206
Multiple modes & mail 149 278
Pipeline 346 137
Other & unknown 51 220
No domestic mode 300 130
Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Office of Freight Management and Operations, Freight Analysis Framework, version 3.4, 2012.
Table 2-8. Top 25 Trading Partners of the United States in Merchandise Trade: 2011
Partner Rank Billions of Dollars
Canada 1 596
China 2 503
Mexico 3 461
Japan 4 195
Germany 5 148
United Kingdom 6 107
South Korea 7 100
Brazil 8 75
France 9 68
Taiwan 10 67
Netherlands 11 66
Saudi Arabia 12 61
India 13 58
Venezuela 14 56
Singapore 15 50
Italy 16 50
Switzerland 17 49
Belgium 18 47
Ireland 19 47
Russian Federation 20 43
Hong Kong 21 41
Malaysia 22 40
Nigeria 23 39
Australia 24 38
Colombia 25 37
Top 25 total1 3,041.8
U.S. total trade 3,688.3
Top 25 as % of total 82.5
Source:   U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, TradeStats Express, available at www.ita.doc.gov/
Table 3-1. Miles of Infrastructure by Transportation Mode
2009
Public roads, route miles 4,059,343
National Highway System (NHS) 164,096
Interstates 47,013
Other NHS 117,083
Other 3,895,246
Strategic Highway Corridor Network (STRAHNET) 62,253
Interstate 47,013
Non-Interstate 15,240
Railroad 139,118
Class I 93,921
Regional 12,804
Local 32,393
Inland waterways
Navigable channels 11,000
Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway 2,342
Pipelines
Oil 171,328
Gas 1,526,400
Key: N = not applicable; NA = not available.
Sources: Public Roads: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: annual issues), tables HM-16 and HM-49, available at www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics/2009/ as of August 30, 2012. Rail: Association of American Railroads, Railroad Facts (Washington, DC:   annual issues). Navigable channels: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, A Citizen’s Guide to the USACE, available at www.corpsreform.org/sitepages/downloads/CitzGuideChptr1.pdf as of August 30, 2012. Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway: The St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, “The Seaway,” available at www.greatlakes-seaway.com/en/seaway/facts/index.html as of August 30, 2012. Oil pipelines:   1980-2000:   Eno Transportation Foundation, Transportation in America, 2002 (Washington, DC: 2002). 2001-2009:   U.S. Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Office of Pipeline Safety, Pipeline Statistics, available at www.phmsa.dot.gov/pipeline/ library/data-stats as of August 30, 2012. Gas pipelines: American Gas Association, Gas Facts (Arlington, VA: annual issues).
Table 3-2. Number of U.S. Vehicles, Vessels, and Other Conveyances
2009
Highway 254,212,610
Truck, single-unit 2-axle 6-tire or more 8,356,097
Truck, combination 2,617,118
Truck, total 10,973,215
Trucks as percent of all highway vehicles 4.3
Rail
Class I, locomotive 24,045
Class I, freight cars 416,180
Nonclass I, freight cars 108,233
Car companies and shippers freight cars2 839,020
Water 40,109
Nonself-propelled vessels 31,008
Self-propelled vessels 9,101
Highway: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: annual issues), table VM-1, available at www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics/2009/ as of August 30, 2012.
Rail: Locomotive: Association of American Railroads, Railroad Facts (Washington, DC: annual issues).
Freight cars: Association of American Railroads, Railroad Equipment Report (Washington, DC: annual issues).
Water: Nonself-propelled vessels and self-propelled vessels: U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers, Waterborne Transportation Lines of the United States, Volume 1, National Summaries (New Orleans, LA: annual issues).
Table 3-3. Containership Calls at U.S. Ports by Vessel Size and Number of Vessels
Vessel Size (TEUs) 2010
Calls
< 2,000 3,709
2,000–2,999 2,761
3,000–3,999 2,053
4,000–4,999 5,881
> 4,999 5,126
Total Calls 19,530
Vessels
< 2,000 178
2,000–2,999 206
3,000–3,999 130
4,000–4,999 315
> 4,999 396
Total Vessels 1,225
Key: TEU = twenty-foot equivalent unit.
Sources: Lloyd’s Marine Intelligence Unit, Vessel Movements Data Files, 2005-2010 (London: Lloyd’s Marine Intelligence Unit, 2005-2010); Lloyd’s Marine Intelligence Unit, Seasearcher (London: Lloyd’s Marine Intelligence Unit, 2011); and Clarkson Research Studies, Clarkson’s Vessel Registers (London: Clarkson Research Studies, January 2011).
Table 3-7. Trucks and Truck Miles by Average Weight
Average weight (pounds) 2002 Percent Change,         1987 to 2002
Number (thousands) Vehicle Miles Traveled (millions) Number VMT
Total 5,415 145,624 49.4 61.9
Light-heavy 1,914 26,256 85.9 143.8
10,001 to 14,000 1,142 15,186 117.6 179.2
14,001 to 16,000 396 5,908 63.6 115.8
16,001 to 19,500 376 5,161 43.2 99.3
Medium-heavy 910 11,766 18.8 55.2
19,501 to 26,000 910 11,766 18.8 55.2
Heavy-heavy 2,591 107,602 41.7 50.2
26,001 to 33,000 437 5,845 15.9 8.0
33,001 to 40,000 229 3,770 9.7 -8.4
40,001 to 50,000 318 6,698 9.0 -12.2
50,001 to 60,000 327 8,950 73.8 25.1
60,001 to 80,000 1,179 77,489 63.1 70.5
80,001 to 100,000 69 2,950 144.3 135.2
100,001 to 130,000 26 1,571 238.5 257.2
130,001 or more 6 329 43.2 77.9
Key: VMT = vehicle miles traveled.
Notes: Weight includes the empty weight of the vehicle plus the average weight of the load carried. Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.
Sources:   U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, 2002 Vehicle Inventory and Use Survey: United States, EC02TV-US (Washington, DC: 2004), available at www.census.gov/prod/ec02/ec02tv-us.pdf as of August 5, 2012; U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, 1992 Truck Inventory and Use Survey: United States, TC92-T-52 (Washington, DC: 1995), available at www.census.gov/prod/ec97/97tv-us.pdf as of August 5, 2012.
Most trucks larger than pickups, minivans, other light vans, and sport utility vehicles typically operate close to home. About one-half of all trucks usually travel to destinations within 50 miles of their base, and three-fourths stayed within their base state. Less than 10 percent of trucks larger than pickups, minivans, other light vans, and sport utility vehicles typically travel to places more than 200 miles away, but these trucks account for 30 percent of the mileage.
Table 3-10. Trucks, Truck Miles, and Average Distance by Range of Operations and Jurisdictions: 2002
Number of Trucks (thousands) Truck Miles (millions) Miles per Truck (thousands)
Total 5,521 145,173 26
Off the road 183 2,263 12
50 miles or less 2,942 42,531 15
51 to 100 miles 685 19,162 28
101 to 200 miles 244 11,780 48
201 to 500 miles 232 17,520 76
501 miles or more 293 26,706 91
Not reported 716 25,061 35
Not applicable 226 150 1
Operated in Canada 2 72 43
Operated in Mexico 2 29 19
Operated within the home base state 4,196 84,974 20
Operated in states other than the home base state 496 40,901 83
Not reported 599 19,046 32
Not applicable 226 150 1
Notes: Includes trucks registered to companies and individuals in the United States except pickups, minivans, other light vans, and sport utility vehicles. Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, 2002 Vehicle Inventory and Use Survey: United States, EC02TV-US, table 3a (Washington, DC: 2004), available at www.census.gov/prod/ec02/ec02tv-us.pdf as of August 5, 2012.
Approximately three-fourths of the miles traveled by trucks larger than pickups, minivans, and other light vans are for the movement of products that range from electronics to sand and gravel. Most of the remaining mileage is for empty backhauls and empty shipping containers.
Table 3-11. Truck Miles by Products Carried: 2002
Products carried Millions
of miles
Total 145,173
Animals and fish, live 735
Animal feed and products of animal origin 2,088
Grains, cereal 1,368
All other agricultural products 2,661
Basic chemicals 876
Fertilizers and fertilizer materials 1,666
Pharmaceutical products 305
All other chemical products and preparations 1,351
Alcoholic beverages 1,124
Bakery and milled grain products 3,553
Meat, seafood, and their preparations 3,056
Tobacco products 445
All other packaged foodstuffs 7,428
Logs and other wood in the rough 1,149
Paper or paperboard articles 3,140
Printed products 765
Pulp, newsprint, paper, paperboard 1,936
Wood products 3,561
Articles of base metal 3,294
Base metal in primary or semifinished forms 2,881
Nometallic mineral products 3,049
Tools, nonpowered 7,759
Tools, powered 6,478
Electronic and other electrical equipment 3,024
Furniture, mattresses, lamps, etc. 2,043
Machinery 3,225
Miscellaneous manufactured products 4,008
Precision instruments and apparatus 734
Textile, leather, and related articles 1,538
Vehicles, including parts 3,844
All other transportation equipment 636
Coal 301
Crude petroleum 132
Gravel or rushed stone 2,790
Metallic ores and concentrates 45
Monumental or building stone 462
Natural sands 1,089
All other nonmetallic minerals 499
Fuel oils 1,232
Gasoline and aviation turbine fuel 849
Plastic and rubber 2,393
All other coal and refined petroleum products 1,172
Hazardous waste (EPA manifest) 190
All other waste and scrape (non-EPA manifest) 2,647
Recyclable products 922
Mail and courier parcels 4,760
Empty shipping containers 794
Passengers 274
Mixed freight 14,659
Products, equipment , or materials not elsewhere classified 265
Products not specified 6,358
Not applicable2 150
No product carried 28,977
Notes: Includes trucks registered to companies and individuals in the United States except pickups, minivans, other light vans, and sport utility vehicles.
Source:   U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, 2002 Vehicle Inventory and Use Survey: United States, EC02TV-US (Washington, DC: 2004), available at www.census.gov/prod/ec02/ec02tv-us.pdf as of August 5, 2012.
Total private and public fixed assets grew from just over $26.9 trillion in 2000 to nearly $46.4 trillion in 2011 (current U.S. dollars). Transportation equipment and structures (private and public) accounted for nearly 12 percent of the total in 2011. The components of transportation fixed assets and their 2011 values are private transportation equipment ($1.04 trillion), private transportation structures ($680 billion), and government transportation structures ($3.77 trillion).1
1 Fixed assets include both passenger and freight transportation.  See the Bureau of Economic Analysis at www.bea.gov/national/FA2004/index.asp, tables 2.1, 3.1s, and 7.1b.
Table 4-1. Transportation Fixed Assets (Billions of dollars)
2011
Private Sector
Transportation Equipment1 1,037
Transportation Structures2 680
Public Sector
Highways 3,132
Transportation Structures2 635
Federal 15
State and Local 621
Key: R=revised.
1Includes trucks, truck trailers, buses, automobiles, aircraft, ships, boats, and railroad equipment.
2Includes physical structures for all modes of transportation.
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, National Economic Accounts, Fixed Assests Tables, tables 2.1, 3.1s, and 7.1b, available at www.bea.gov/iTable/index_FA.cfm as of August 30, 2012.

 

Table 1-1: System Mileage Within the United States (Statute miles)
1960 2001 2009 2012
Highwaya 3,545,693 3,948,335 4,050,717 4,092,730
Class I railb,c 207,334 97,817 93,921 95,391
Amtrakc N 23,000 21,178 U
Transitd
Commuter railc N 5,209 7,561 7,722
Heavy rail N 1,572 1,623 1,622
Light raile N 897 1,477 1,724
Navigable channelsf 25,000 25,000 25,000 25,000
Oil pipelineg,h U 158,248 175,965 185,569
Gas pipelinei 630,950 1,412,876 1,545,319 1,566,446

a All public road and street mileage in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. For years prior to 1980, some miles of nonpublic roadways are included. No consistent data on private road mileage are available. Beginning in 1998, approximately 43,000 miles of Bureau of Land Management Roads are excluded. 2010 Missouri and Wyoming’s data are 2009. b Data represent miles of road owned (aggregate length of road, excluding yard tracks, sidings, and parallel lines). c Portions of Class I freight railroads, Amtrak, and Commuter rail networks share common trackage. Amtrak data represent miles of road operated. d Transit system length is measured in directional route-miles. Directional route-miles are the distance in each direction over which public transportation vehicles travel while in revenue service. Directional route-miles are computed with regard to direction of service, but without regard to the number of traffic lanes or rail tracks existing in the right-of-way. Beginning in 2002, directional route-mileage data for the Commuter and Light rail modes include purchased transportation. 2005 and later years directional route-mileage data for the Heavy rail mode include purchased transportation. eBeginning in 2011, Light rail includes Light Rail, Street Car Rail, and Hybrid Rail. f These are estimated sums of all domestic waterways which include rivers, bays, channels, and the inner route of the Southeast Alaskan Islands, but does not include the Great Lakes or deep ocean traffic. The Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center monitored 12,612 miles as commercially significant inland shallow-draft waterways in 2001. Beginning in 2007, waterways connecting lakes and the St. Lawrence seaway inside the U.S. are included. g The large drop in mileage between 2000 and 2001 is due to a change in the source of the data. CO2 or other is excluded for 2004 to 2008. h Includes trunk and gathering lines for crude-oil pipeline. i Excludes service pipelines. Data not adjusted to common diameter equivalent. Mileage as of the end of each year. Data includes gathering, transmission, and distribution mains. Prior to 1985 data also include field lines. See table 1-10 for a more detailed breakout of Oil and Gas pipeline mileage. Length data reported in Gas Facts prior to 1985 was taken from the American Gas Association’s member survey, the Uniform Statistical Report, supplemented with estimates for companies that did not participate. Gas Facts length data is now based on information reported to the U.S. Department of Transportation on Form 7100. Since data for 1985 and later years are obtained from the Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration, data for these years are not comparable with prior years or with numbers published in the previous NTS reports.

Table 4-10: Estimated Consumption of Alternative and Replacement Fuels for Highway Vehicles (Thousand gasoline-equivalent gallons)
1993 2011 Percent
TOTAL fuel consumptiona 135,912,964 171,042,834
Alternative fuels, total 293,334 515,920
Liquefied petroleum gases 264,655 124,457 0.0007
Compressed natural gas 21,603 220,247 0.001288
Liquefied natural gas 1,901 26,242 0.000153
Methanol, 85%b 1,593 N
Methanol, neat 3,166 N
Ethanol, 85%b 48 137,165 0.000802
Ethanol, 95%b 80 N
Electricityc 288 7,635
Hydrogen N 174
Other Fuels N 0
Biodiesel N 910,968 0.005326
Oxygenates
Methyl-tertiary-butyl-etherd 2,069,200 0
Ethanol in gasohol 760,000 8,563,841 0.050068
Traditional fuels, total 135,619,630 170,526,914
Gasolinee 111,323,000 130,597,071
Dieself 24,296,630 39,929,843  

 

KEY:  N = data do not exist; R = revised.

a Total fuel consumption is the sum of Alternative fuels, Gasoline, and Diesel. Oxygenate consumption is included in Gasoline consumption. b The remaining portion of 85% methanol, 85% ethanol, and 95% ethanol fuels is Gasoline. Consumption data include the Gasoline portion of the fuel. c Excludes gasoline-electric hybrids. d Includes a very small amount of other ethers, primarily tertiary-amyl-methyl-ether and ethyl-tertiary-butyl-ether. e Gasoline consumption includes Ethanol in gasohol and Methyl-tertiary-butyl-ether. f Diesel includes Biodiesel.

 

 

http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/national_transportation_statistics/index.html

$5.1 Trillion: Value of all transportation equipment and structures, public and private (trucks, buses, autos, aircraft, ships, boats, railroad and roads, bridges, etc,

 

Miles of

  • Railroad tracks: 138,524 miles (Class 1, 2, 3), 76,000 rail bridges, 800 tunnels
  • Roads: 4,092,730 miles
  • Oil pipelines: 185,569     Gas pipelines: 1,566,446

 

Existing Vehicles 2011

  • 192,513,278   Passenger cars, average age 11.4, went 2 TRILLION miles
  • 41,328,144   Light-duty trucks, average age 11.3 went 603 Billion miles
  •    7,819,055    Medium-duty trucks > 10,000 lbs went 105 Billion miles
  •    2,451,638    Heavy-duty trucks traveled 163 Billion miles 5.8 mpg
  •          24,250    Locomotives (class 1) went 500 million miles

 

New Vehicles bought in 2011 (RITA 1-12)

  • 7,242,000        Passenger Cars, 431,798 hybrids: 445 years to replace fleet
  • 4,641,596        Trucks (light)
  •          473        Railroad Locomotives

 

Ships

  • Lifespan: 27 years old on average
  • Cargo: 53,000 ships carry 80-90% of all cargo using 10% of the world’s oil.
  • Energy: A third of all cargo by weight is oil. TI Class supertankers can carry 3.2 million barrels

Railroads

  • Cargo: Carry 40% of cargo in ton-miles (weight x distance)
  • Energy: rail tonnage 40% coal, 2.2% oil, 2.6% petroleum & coke, 1.5% ethanol
  • Locomotives: Class 1: 24,250, 473 new ones bought in 2011
  • Freight cars, Class 1, 2, 3: 475,000
  • Diesel fuel: 3.9 billion gallons of diesel/year or 4% of electric generation
  • 3,883,000,000,000 kWh electricity generated 2013 = 95.4 billion gallons of diesel

Trucks

http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/national_transportation_statistics/html/table_04_13.html

Table 4-13: Single-Unit 2-Axle 6-Tire or More Truck Fuel Consumption and Travel

Number registered: 8,190,000 @ 7.3 mpg   gallons: 1,428,700,000

Over 26 million trucks (all classes) hauled just under 9 billion tons of freight. Of the more than 26 million trucks, 2.4 million were Class 8 vehicles. Also, there were 5.7 million commercial trailers registered in 2009. All trucks (excluding vehicles used by the government and on farms, but including all weight classes) used for business purposes logged a total of 397.8 billion miles in 2010, which accounted for 13.4% of all motor vehicle miles and 29.8% of all truck miles. According to an analysis by Martin Labbe Associates for ATA, Class 8 trucks drove a total of 99.2 billion miles, which means that, on average, a Class 8 truck drove almost 43,000 miles in 2010, although most long-haul Class 8 tractors travel in excess of 100,000 miles each year. In 2011, trucks (all classes) consumed 52.3 billion gallons of fuel, including both diesel and gasoline. Most heavy-duty trucks run on diesel fuel, which is why over 70% of all fuel burned by trucks is diesel fuel, equating to 37.2 billion gallons annually and 14.8 billion gallons of gasoline

131.2 billion miles logged by all Class 6 – 8 trucks used for business purposes (excluding government and farm) in 2010

Retail truck sales (thousands) grand total 6,951,210

2011 class 1 4,714.1    class 2 1,735.6    class 3 195.3    class 4 10.5  class 5 42.5    class 6 40.7    class 7 41.2    class 8 171.4      TOTAL 6,951.2

Federal Highway-user taxes: $14.3 billion   diesel taxes (58.5%), gas tax (19.3%) retail truck tax 13.2% federal use tax 6.7% and tire tax 2.2%

State Highway-user taxes: of the total $18.7 billion from all sources (cars, etc), $7.4 billion, or 39.5% came from commercial truck diesel taxes.

http://images.politico.com/global/2012/04/120417_trucking.html

Table 4-14: Combination Truck Fuel Consumption and Travel

Number registered 2,469,000 @ 5.8 mpg gallons 27,926,000,000

USA Imports: 805 million tons (60% petroleum, 17% manufactured equipment and goods, 6% Chemicals, 5% farm products, 12% other)

USA Exports: 617 million tons (25% Food, 43% petroleum products, coal, and coke, 32% other)

Ton Miles of freight (table 1-50 USDOT RITA)

http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/national_transportation_statistics/html/table_01_50.html

Truck 44% Train 29% Ship 8%   Pipeline 17% air

Efficiency:

Ships use roughly 10 times less energy than railroads, and 20 times less than trucks. Supertankers (Smil).

This is a very rough estimate, because factors like speed, weight, aerodynamics, rolling resistance, diesel engine efficiency, and so on. For example, rail fuel efficiency varies from 156 to 512 ton-miles/gallon, while truck fuel efficiency ranges from 68 to 133 ton-miles/gallon (FRA).

The fuel efficiency of Class I freight rail is 2 to 5.5 times better than that of trucks (ICF), having doubled over the past 30 years (1980–2011) to 480 ton-miles/gallon.

On average, freight trains are 4 times more fuel efficient than trucks, moving a ton of freight for 484 mi per gallon (206 km/l) of fuel (up from 280 mi in 1980)

A loaded freight train is equivalent to removing about 280 trucks, or 1,100 cars, from roads, thereby providing both emissions reduction, as well as congestion relief (USDOT)

FRA. November 19, 2009. Federal Railroad Administration Comparative Evaluation of Rail and Truck Fuel Efficiency on Competitive Corridors. ICF International for U.S. Department of Transportation. 156 pages.

Smil, Vaclav. 2010. Prime Movers of Globalization. The History and Impact of Diesel Engines and Gas Turbines and 2014 Making the modern World. Supertankers consume less than 50 kJ/tkm, smaller faster ships 100-150 kJ/tkm, trains 300 to 600 kJ/tkm, heavy trucks between 2000 and 4000 MJ/tkm, and airplanes 30,000 kJ/tkm. kJ= kilojoules tkm =tons per kilometer

USDOT. Jan 2014. Best Practices and Strategies for Improving Rail Energy Efficiency. Federal Railroad Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation.

USDOT BTS. National Transportation Statistics. U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics.  http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/national_transportation_statistics/index.html

Dreifus, C. Oct 27, 2014. A Chronicler of Warnings Denied: Naomi Oreskes Imagines the Future History of Climate Change. New York Times.

The development of truck and highway technologies in the early 20th century freed business and industry again, this time from the need to locate near rail lines and terminals. A grid of east-west and north-south Interstate highways was built to connect cities and regional economies. Businesses and communities migrated outward from city centers, taking advantage of inexpensive land made newly accessible by the trucking and highway systems. Long-haul trucking captured a large share of east-west freight traffic from the railroads and much of the north-south freight traffic from coastal steamers and river barges. While rail and water continued to serve some traditional markets, trucks were the only way to serve the new suburban and ex-urban markets. Trucking became the dominant mode of freight transportation, and much of the railroad industry shrank into bankruptcy.

 

Table 8: Ton-Miles by Two-Digit Commodity: 2007
SCTG
code (1)		 Commodity description Ton-miles (2)
(millions)
All Commodities 3,490,806
15 Nonagglomerated bituminous coal 722,280
02 Cereal grains 280,363
19 Coal and petroleum products, NEC (3) 206,377
07 Other prepared foodstuffs and fats and oils 159,873
32 Base metal in primary or semifinished forms 148,620
20 Basic chemicals 148,281
26 Wood products 134,137
12 Gravel and crushed stone 132,653
17 Gasoline and aviation turbine fuel 129,911
31 Nonmetallic mineral products 123,301
03 Other agricultural products 121,512
24 Plastics and rubber 102,718
27 Pulp, newsprint, paper, and paperboard 80,369
04 Animal feed and products of animal origin, NEC (3) 70,558
18 Fuel oils 65,627
(1) Based on 2-digit code for Standard Classification of Transported Goods (SCTG).
(2) Horizontal lines and color codes are used within the table to group the commodities. Commodities within the same group, or the same color code, cannot be determined to be different statistically from one another.   However, from top to bottom, a change in grouping, or a change in color, denotes a statistical decrease in level of ton-miles, based on statistical significance testing at the 95% confidence level.
(3) NEC = not elsewhere classified.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 2007 Commodity Flow Survey, preliminary data table 6, December 2008.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This entry was posted in Transportation and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.