Office of Operations Freight Management and Operations

Figure 5-1. Energy Consumption by Freight Transportation Mode: 2003

In 2003, trucking accounted for 70 percent of freight transportation energy consumption. Water transportation accounted for 14 percent, natural gas pipelines 9 percent, and Class I rail only 7 percent.

See paragraph above and table below for explanation of Figure 5-1

Data represented in the figure
Table in Excel format | Historical data

empty Cell Trillion Btu
Truck5,213
Class I Rail (Distillate/diesel fuel)531
Water1,026
Pipeline (natural gas only)686

Key: Btu = British thermal unit.

Note: Data do not include energy consumed by oil pipelines (crude petroleum and petroleum products) nor coal slurry/water slurry pipelines.

Sources: Truck: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics, (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table VM-1.

Rail: Association of American Railroads, Railroad Facts (Washington, DC: October 2004), p. 40.

Water: U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, Fuel Oil and Kerosene Sales (Washington, DC: Annual issues) tables 2 and 4; U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table MF-24.

Pipeline: U.S. Department of Energy, Natural Gas Annual 2003, DOE/EIA-0131(01) (Washington, DC: November 2004), table 15.

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