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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

Table 1b. Shipment Characteristics by Mode of Transportation for the United States: Percent of Total for 2007 and 2002

Monday, July 2, 2012

Table 1b. Shipment Characteristics by Mode of Transportation for the United States: Percent of Total for 2007 and 2002

[Estimates are based on data from the 2007 and 2002 Commodity Flow Surveys. Because of rounding, estimates may not be additive]

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Mode of transportation Value (percent) Tons (percent) Ton-miles1 (percent) Value Standard Error % Tons Standard Error % Ton-miles Standard Error %
2007 2002 2007 2002 2007 2002 2007 2002 2007 2002 2007 2002
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 - - - - - -
Single modes 81.6 83.9 93.3 95.0 86.5 91.4 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.8 0.7
Truck2 71.3 74.3 70 67.2 40.1 40.0 0.5 0.4 0.7 1 1.3 1.5
For-hire truck 42.4 44.7 32.5 31.3 31.6 30.6 0.5 0.6 0.7 1 1 1.2
Private truck 28.9 29.1 37.5 35.6 8.6 9.3 0.3 0.5 0.5 0.8 0.3 0.4
Rail 3.7 3.7 14.8 16.1 40.2 40.2 0.2 0.2 0.8 0.7 2.1 1.3
Water 1 1.1 3.2 5.8 4.7 9.0 0.1 - 0.3 0.4 0.6 0.7
Shallow draft 0.8 0.7 2.7 3.9 3.5 6.7 0.1 - 0.3 0.3 0.6 0.7
Great Lakes S - 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.4 S - - - 0.1 0.1
Deep draft 0.2 0.4 0.3 1.6 1 1.8 - - - 0.3 0.2 0.4
Air (includes truck and air) 2.2 3.2 - - 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.4 - - - -
Pipeline3 3.4 1.8 5.2 5.9 S S 0.2 0.1 0.4 0.4 S S
Multiple modes 16 12.9 4.6 1.9 12.5 7.2 0.3 0.4 0.2 0.2 0.8 0.8
Parcel, U.S.P.S. or courier 13.4 11.8 0.3 0.2 0.8 0.6 0.3 0.3 - - - -
Truck and rail 1.6 0.8 1.8 0.4 5.9 1.5 0.1 0.1 0.1 - 0.3 0.1
Truck and water 0.5 0.2 1.2 0.2 2.9 1.0 0.1 - 0.2 - 0.5 0.2
Rail and water 0.1 - 0.4 0.9 1.4 3.7 - - 0.1 0.2 0.4 0.9
Other multiple modes 0.4 - 0.9 0.2 1.4 0.4 0.1 - 0.1 - 0.2 0.1
Other and unknown modes 2.4 3.2 2.2 3.1 1 1.4 0.2 0.1 0.3 0.4 0.1 0.2

KEY: S = Estimate does not meet publication standards because of high sampling variability or poor response quality. - = Zero or Less than half the unit shown; thus, it has been rounded to zero.

1 Ton-miles estimates are based on estimated distances traveled along a modeled transportation network.
2 "Truck" as a single mode includes any shipment that was made by private truck only, by for-hire truck only, or by a combination of private and for-hire truck.
3 Estimates for pipeline exclude shipments of crude petroleum (SCTG 16).

NOTES: Value-of-shipment estimates are reported in current prices. More information on sampling error, confidentiality protection, nonsampling error, sample design, and definitions may be found at http://www.bts.gov/cfs.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics and U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 Economic Census: Transportation Commodity Flow Survey, December 2009.