Freight Facts and Figures 2009

Table 4-3. Employment in For-Hire Transportation Establishments Primarily Serving Freight: 1980-2008¹ (Historical)

Table in Excel format

Thousands of employees

	1980	1990	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Total U.S. labor force2	90,528	109,487	131,785	131,826	130,341	129,999	131,435	133,703	136,086	(R) 137,598	137,066
Transportation and warehousing	2,961	3,476	4,410	4,372	4,224	4,185	4,249	4,361	4,470	(R) 4,541	4,505
Rail transportation	518	272	232	227	218	218	226	228	228	234	230
Water transportation	NA	57	56	54	53	55	56	61	63	(R) 66	65
Truck transportation	NA	1,122	1,406	1,387	1,339	1,326	1,352	1,398	1,436	(R) 1,439	1,391
Pipeline transportation	NA	60	46	45	42	40	38	38	39	40	42
Support activities for transportation3	NA	364	537	539	525	520	535	552	571	(R) 584	590
Couriers and messengers	NA	375	605	587	561	562	557	572	582	(R) 581	576
Warehousing and storage	NA	407	514	514	517	528	558	595	638	(R) 665	673

Key: NA = not available; R = revised.

¹Annual averages.

²Excludes farm employment.

³Industries in the Support Activities for Transportation subsector provide services which support transportation. These services may be provided to transportation carrier establishments or to the general public. This subsector includes a wide array of establishments, including air traffic control services, marine cargo handling, and motor vehicle towing.

Notes:

These data include workers employed in transportation industries but not necessarily in a transportation occupation, such as a lawyer working for a trucking company. Moreover, these data exclude workers in transportation occupations employed by non-transportation industries, such as a truck driver employed by a retail company.

Source:

U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics survey, available at www.bls.gov/ces as of June 11, 2009.

 

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