Trucks carry 75% of the value of freight shipped in the U.S. and two-thirds of the weight, according to revised numbers released last month by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). The recently revised numbers from BTS' Commodity Flow Survey show that trucks moved more than $6.2 trillion and 7.8 billion tons of manufactured goods and raw materials in 2002, the most recent data available. Rail was the second-most-used mode by weight, carrying 1.9 billion tons of freight for a 16% share—but only $310 billion or 4% of goods by value.

By value, the largest commodity groups shipped by truck included mixed freight, motorized and other vehicles, and electronic and other electrical equipment. By weight, the largest commodities shipped by truck were sand and gravel, nonmetallic minerals, and gasoline and aviation fuels.

For all modes combined, the largest commodity groups, by value, were electronic and other electrical equipment, motorized and other vehicles, and mixed manufactured freight. By shipment tonnage, the largest commodities were sand and gravel, coal, gasoline and aviation fuels, and nonmetallic minerals.

dhannon@reedbusiness.com