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TABLE 2-1-2 - Number of Air Carriers, Railroads, Interstate Motor Carriers, Marine Vessel Operators and Pipeline Operators: 1995-2006

TABLE 2-1-2 - Number of Air Carriers, Railroads, Interstate Motor Carriers, Marine Vessel Operators and Pipeline Operators: 1995-2006

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  1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Air carriers 96 96 96 96 94 91 87 83 80 83 82 98
Major air carriers 11 12 13 13 13 15 15 15 14 14 17 21
Other air carriers 85 84 83 83 81 76 72 68 66 69 65 77
Railroads 541 553 550 559 555 560 571 552 549 556 560 559
Class I railroads 11 10 9 9 9 8 8 7 7 7 7 7
Other railroads 530 543 541 550 546 552 563 545 542 549 553 552
Interstate motor carriers 346,000 379,000 417,000 477,486 517,297 560,393 592,909 600,104 674,314 677,317 679,744 U
Marine vessel operators 1,381 1,348 1,311 1,235 1,174 1,114 1,063 877 798 767 733 682
Pipeline operators 2,367 2,327 2,281 2,236 2,238 2,157 2,135 2,186 2,216 2,240 2,166 2,297
Hazardous liquid 197 205 216 219 215 220 220 218 235 278 302 324
Natural gas transmission 975 971 957 889 885 844 837 919 947 941 968 992
Natural gas distribution 1,444 1,397 1,365 1,375 1,393 1,363 1,341 1,331 1,311 1,344 1,352 1,325

NOTES: Air carrier groups are categorized based on their annual operating revenues as major, national, large regional, and medium regional. The thresholds were last adjusted July 1, 1999, and the threshold for major air carriers is currently $1 billion. The other air carrier category contains all national, large regional, and medium regional air carriers. Interstate motor carrier figures are for the fiscal year, October through September. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration deletes motor carriers from the Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) when they receive an official notice of a change in status. This most often occurs when a safety audit or compliance review is attempted. As a result, inactive carriers may be included in the MCMIS.

There is some overlap among the operators for the pipeline modes so the total number of pipeline operators is lower than the sum for the three pipeline modes.

SOURCES: Air: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Railroads: Association of American Railroads, Motor Carriers: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Marine: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Pipeline: Office of Pipeline Safety as cited in U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, National Transportation Statistics, table 1-2, available at http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/ as of January 2009.