Highlights

Excel

Tables in this section present data for all 50 states and the District of Columbia and show the value, weight, and ton-miles of commodity shipments by mode of transportation as estimated in the 2012 CFS.

• American businesses covered by the CFS shipped about $13.9 trillion worth of goods in 2012, weighing 11.3 billion tons and generating 3.0 trillion ton-miles.
• Trucking continued to dominate the Nation’s movement of freight for value and tonnage, accounting for 73.1 percent of the value ($10.1 trillion) and 71.3 percent of weight (8.1 billion tons). Truck and rail each accounted for 1.2 trillion ton-miles, 42.0 and 40.8 percent respectively.
• Mixed freight was the commodity with the highest value at $1.4 trillion. Gravel and crushed stone was the largest commodity by weight at 1.5 billion tons. Coal was the commodity accounting for the most ton-miles with 663.7 billion in 2012.

Origin of Freight

• By value, Texas originated goods worth $1.9 trillion, and California shipped goods worth $1.5 trillion.
• By weight, the two states that shipped the most were Texas with 1.69 billion tons and California with 718 million tons.
• By ton-miles, goods originating in Wyoming generated 462 billion ton-miles, and goods originating in Texas generated 244 billion ton-miles.

Destination of the Freight

• By value, Texas had incoming freight shipments worth $2.01 trillion, and California had incoming freight worth $1.35 trillion.
• By weight, Texas received 1.86 billion tons of goods, and California received 765 million tons.
• By ton-miles, incoming goods for Texas generated 430 billion ton-miles, and California had incoming goods generating 248 billion ton-miles.

Mode of Transportation

• Single mode truck was the dominant mode of freight transportation, accounting for at least 60 percent of the total value of shipments for 43 states (figure 1).
• By weight, the truck mode transported at least 60 percent of originating shipments for 40 States, including the District of Columbia (figure 2).

Figure 1: Percent Share of Truck Shipment for Origin State—Value: 2012

Figure 2: Percent Share of Truck Shipment for Origin State—Weight: 2012

Percent Share of Truck Shipment from Originating State—Value: 2012

In the South geographic region , nine states and the District of Columbia had more than 80 percent of the value of originating shipments transported by truck. Only Louisiana and Texas had truck mode shares below 60 percent.

For the Northeast region, Massachusetts was the only state with a truck mode share under 70 percent.  The states in the West region generally had the lowest shares of values carried by the truck mode. Five states in the West region had fewer than 60 percent of originated freight by value transported by truck, and only Arizona and Nevada had mode shares for truck exceeding 75 percent (figure 1). 

Percent Share of Truck Shipment from Originating State—Weight: 2012

In the Northeast region, all states have mode shares for truck exceeding 80 percent. In contrast, the West region only had 4 of 13 states with mode shares for truck over 80 percent. Louisiana, Montana, West Virginia, and Wyoming all had mode shares by weight of under 50 percent for truck. Wyoming only had 5.6 percent of shipment weight transported by truck. (figure 2)

Reliability of the Estimates and Interpreting Confidence Intervals

Because CFS results are estimates obtained from a sample survey, the data are subject to sampling error. This report provides 90-percent confidence intervals for the estimates in tables 1, 2, 3, and 4.

The coefficient of variation (CV) of an estimate is the standard error of the estimate divided by the estimate and measures the relative sampling variability. The CV and standard error associated with an estimate can be used to construct a confidence interval. The CVs of the estimates in tables 5a to 10a are provided in tables 5b to 10b.

A confidence interval is a range around an estimate that has a specified probability of containing the average of all the estimates when samples are repeated using the same sampling frame conducted under the same survey conditions. Confidence intervals can help in assessing the reliability of estimates and in making comparisons between and among geographic areas, commodities, and modes of transportation.  In other words, they help to represent the precision of an estimate and are an important reminder of the limitations of the estimates. Note that the wider a confidence interval, the less precise the estimate. Precision depends on sample size and sample variability.

For example, the value of shipments originating in Alabama in 2012 was $214.8 billion.  The corresponding 90-percent confidence interval around that estimate gives the range of $191.5 billion to $238.0 billion. (For more information regarding confidence intervals see Appendix B.)

² The South region includes Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

³ The Northeast region includes Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

⁴ The West region includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.