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Table 1 - Trucking and Railroad Share of the Major Commodity Shipments in the United States: 1997

Table 1 - Trucking and Railroad Share of the Major Commodity Shipments in the United States: 1997

(Commodity Flow Survey Data Only)

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SCTG code Top 10 commodity groupings All modes Trucking Rail Trucking share (%) Rail share (%)
By value ($billions)
All commodities 6,944 4,982 320 71.7 4.6
35 Electronic, electrical equipment, and office equipment 870 484 3 55.7 0.3
36 Motorized and other vehicles (including parts) 571 367 77 64.2 13.5
40 Miscellaneous manufactured products 421 268 3 63.7 0.6
34 Machinery 417 320 6 76.7 1.5
30 Textiles, leather, and articles of textiles or leather 379 293 0.47 77.4 0.1
7 Other prepared foodstuffs and fats and oils 346 319 13 92.2 3.8
32 Base metal in primary or semifinished forms 286 242 26 84.7 9.1
24 Plastics and rubber 279 219 21 78.5 7.6
29 Printed products 260 178 0.27 68.4 0.1
41 Mixed freight 230 219 95
  By tonnage (millions)          
All commodities 11,090 7,701 1,550 69.4 14
12 Gravel and crushed stone 1,815 1,672 51 92.1 2.8
15 Coal 1,217 217 687 17.8 56.5
17 Gasoline and aviation turbine fuel 963 518 5 53.8 0.6
31 Nonmetallic mineral products 910 860 23 94.5 2.5
2 Cereal grains 490 189 142 38.5 29.1
18 Fuel oils 482 244 7 50.7 1.4
19 Coal and petroleum products, n.e.c. 475 281 62 59.2 13
11 Natural sands 443 413 11 93.4 2.5
7 Other prepared foodstuffs and fats and oils 397 348 32 87.6 8.1
25 Logs and other wood in the rough 371 349 7 94 2
  By ton-miles (billions)          
All commodities 2,661 1,024 1,023 38.5 38.4
15 Coal 542 9 439 1.7 81
2 Cereal grains 201 18 116 9.1 58
20 Basic chemicals 137 34 69 24.7 50.8
17 Gasoline and aviation turbine fuel 137 29 3 21.5 2.1
7 Other prepared foodstuffs and fats and oils 124 79 34 63.5 27
32 Base metal in primary or semifinished forms 117 68 36 57.5 30.9
26 Wood products 97 52 36 53.9 36.7
12 Gravel and crushed stone 93 58 11 62.8 11.8
31 Nonmetallic mineral products 91 64 14 69.7 15.4
27 Pulp, newsprint, paper, and paperboard 84 44 35 52.3 42.3

NOTE: = data do not meet publication standards because of sampling variability or other reasons; n.e.c. = not elsewhere classified; SCTG = Standard Classification of Transported Goods.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics and U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, 1997 Commodity Flow Survey, United States, EC97TCF-US (Washington, DC: 1999).