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

	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

	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:

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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