Short Line Rail: Its Role in Intermodalism and Distribution

Table 4.3: Commodity Flow Survey Shipments by Transportation Mode: 1993 and
2002
(CFS Data Only)
NOTE: The 2002 value data in this table are adjusted for inflation to allow comparison with the 1993 data. Also, these are CFS
data only, therefore the numbers are different from those found in Table 4.2.
KEY: — Represents data cell equal to zero or less than 1 unit of measure.
S = Estimate does not meet publication standards because of high sampling variability or poor response quality.
NA = Not applicable.
1 “Truck” as a single mode includes shipments that were made by only private truck, only for-hire truck, or a combination of the two.
2 CFS estimates for pipeline exclude shipments of crude petroleum.
3 Other multiple modes include combination of truck and water, rail and water, and other combinations.
SOURCE: U.S. DOT, 2006a. U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of
Transportation Statistics and U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Commodity Flow Survey, U.S. Data,
December 2004.
Not surprisingly, heavy, low-value commodities are mostly transported at lower unit
costs by rail and water modes. According to composite estimates, rail shipments were
valued at $198 per ton on average compared to $401 per ton for water and $775 per ton
for truck in 2002. Multimodal combination shipments were valued on average at
approximately $4,892 per ton, while air-truck shipments averaged more than $88,618
per ton. The variation in the modal averages is a reflection of the wide variation in the
range of commodities moved by each of the modes. For example, trucks haul goods
ranging from gravel and crushed stones, coal, and grain to electronic equipment,
refrigerated perishables, pharmaceuticals, and gasoline. Rail similarly hauls freight
ranging from low valued coal and other bulk commodities to higher valued products
such as automobiles, petroleum and chemical products, etc. (U.S. DOT, 2006a).
According to composite estimates, trucking, as a single mode, was used most
frequently, accounting for an estimated 70 percent of the total value, 60 percent of the
weight, and 34 percent of the ton-miles. 2 In 2002, the trucking industry, both for-hire
and private own-use, transported over $9 trillion worth of shipments, weighing over 11
2 The relative modal shares of ton-miles depend on how “multi-modal” shipments are measured. Rail moves a slightly larger share
when intermodal truck-rail shipments are counted in its totals.
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