The US Census Bureau and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) recently released the 2002 Commodity Flow Survey (CFS), which is produced every five years.

The current CFS contains 2002 data, while the previous CFS included 1997 data. The CFS covers all modes of freight transportation and reports on commodities shipped, their value, tonnage hauled, ton miles, and average miles per shipment.
The report says that $8.4 trillion worth of goods were transported in 2002, a jump of 22.2% from 1997.
Total trucking, which includes for-hire and private, hauled $6.2 trillion worth of goods, which was a 24.5% increase from 1997. Railroads, on the other hand, hauled $0.3 trillion worth of goods, which equates to a 0.3% increase from 1997.
In terms of market share of the value of goods shipped, trucking accounted for 73.1% of the total freight transportation market, up from 71.1% in 1997. Rails accounted for just 3.8% of the total, down from 4.6% in 1997.
Also in 2002, all modes of freight transportation hauled 11.5 billion tons of freight, which was a 4.4%
increase over 1997. Total trucking hauled 7.6 billion tons of freight that year, which was a decrease of 1.0% from 1997. However, for-hire trucking saw a 7.7% increase in tonnage during that five-year period, while private carriage witnessed a 5.2% decrease. Railroad tonnage increased 17.2% from 1997 to 2002.
Despite the larger percentage increase for railroads, their tonnage was only 15.7% of the total.
Conversely, trucks hauled 65.9% of all freight tonnage, where private carriers and for-hire companies equaled 33.9% and 31.7% of the total, respectively.
The Census Bureau and BTS produce the CFS by going to select types of shippers -- not transportation companies -- and asking them for their data on shipments originating in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The 2002 CFS covers business establishments with paid employees and are classified in mining, manufacturing, wholesale trade and select retail industries. Businesses classified as services, transportation, construction, and most retail industries are excluded from the survey.