Office of Operations Freight Management and Operations

Freight Facts and Figures 2009

Tables 5-7 and 5-7M. Fuel Consumption by Transportation Mode: 1980-2007

The number of gallons of fuel burned by commercial trucks increased significantly over the past 27 years.  Between 1980 and 2007, the fuel consumed in highway freight transportation increased from 20 billion to nearly 39 billion gallons annually.  This is due to a substantial increase in the number of trucks on the road, an increase in the average number of miles traveled per truck, and a doubling of truck miles traveled.  Over the same period, fuel use in Class I freight railroads increased slightly from 3.9 billion gallons to 4.1 billion gallons.

Table 5-7 (standard units)

Table in Excel format | Historical data

Blank cell. 1980 1990 2000 2006 2007
Highway
Gasoline, diesel and other fuels (million gallons) 114,960 130,755 162,555 (R) 175,023 176,106
Truck, total 19,960 24,490 35,229 (R) 37,959 38,550
Single-unit 2-axle 6-tire or more truck 6,923 8,357 9,563 (R) 9,852 10,035
Combination truck 13,037 16,133 25,666 (R) 28,107 28,515
Truck (percent of total) 17.4 18.7 21.7 21.7 21.9
Rail, Class I (in freight service)
Distillate / diesel fuel (million gallons) 3,904 3,115 3,700 4,192 4,062
Water
Residual fuel oil (million gallons) 8,952 6,326 6,410 5,754 6,327
Distillate / diesel fuel oil (million gallons) 1,478 2,065 2,261 1,903 1,924
Gasoline (million gallons) 1,052 1,300 1,124 1,237 1,222
Pipeline
Natural gas (million cubic feet) 634,622 659,816 642,210 (R) 584,213 622,893

Key: R = revised.

Sources:

Highway: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: annual issues), table VM-1, available at www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics/2007/ as of April 20, 2009.

Rail: Association of American Railroads, Railroad Facts (Washington, DC: annual issues), p. 40.

Water: U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, Fuel Oil and Kerosene Sales 2007 (Washington, DC: 2008), tables 2, 4, and similar tables in earlier editions.

Pipeline: U.S. Department of Energy, Natural Gas Annual 2006, DOE/EIA-0131(07) (Washington, DC: January 2009), table 15 and similar tables in earlier editions.

 

Table 5-7M (metric units)

Table in Excel format | Historical data

Blank cell. 1980 1990 2000 2006 2007
Highway
Gasoline, diesel and other fuels (million liters) 435,124.9 494,909.2 615,272.5 662,462.4 666,564.1
Truck, total 75,548.8 92,694.9 133,342.2 143,674.9 145,912.4
Single-unit 2-axle 6-tire or more truck 26,203.6 31,631.3 36,196.1 37,291.4 37,983.0
Combination truck 49,345.2 61,063.6 97,146.1 106,383.6 107,929.4
Truck (percent of total) 17.4 18.7 21.7 21.7 21.9
Rail, Class I (in freight service)
Distillate / diesel fuel (million liters) 14,776.7 11,790.3 14,004.5 15,866.8 15,374.7
Water
Residual fuel oil (million liters) 33,883.4 23,944.0 24,261.9 21,779.0 23,947.5
Distillate / diesel fuel oil (million liters) 5,594.2 7,816.0 8,557.9 7,202.9 7,282.3
Gasoline (million liters) 3,981.8 4,920.5 4,254.4 4,682.1 4,623.5
Pipeline
Natural gas (million cubic meters) 17,970.5 18,683.9 18,185.3 16,543.1 17,638.3

Key: R = revised.

Notes:

1 liter = 0.2642 gallons; 1 cubic meter = 35.3147 cubic feet.

Sources:

Highway: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: annual issues), table VM-1, available at www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics/2007/ as of April 20, 2009.

Rail: Association of American Railroads, Railroad Facts (Washington, DC: annual issues), p. 40.

Water: U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, Fuel Oil and Kerosene Sales 2007 (Washington, DC: 2008), tables 2, 4, and similar tables in earlier editions.

Pipeline: U.S. Department of Energy, Natural Gas Annual 2006, DOE/EIA-0131(07) (Washington, DC: January 2009), table 15 and similar tables in earlier editions.

 


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