1.5 Freight Transportation and the Economy

  1. The benefits of freight transportation to the economy are enormous.
  2. Freight transportation increases the value of goods by moving them to locations where they are worth more and encourages competition and production.
  3. Freight transportation also stimulates demand for goods and services and employs millions of people.
  4. Freight transportation infrastructure is a significant component of our nation’s wealth and productive capacity.
  5. From a macroeconomic perspective, transportation accounts for a significant share of the U.S. GDP. In 2000, purchases of transportation-related goods and services accounted for approximately 11 percent of GDP (USDOT BTS 2002).
  6. Only housing, health care, and food accounted for a greater share. For-hire transportation services, which include warehousing, contributed about 3.3 percent ($303 billion) to GDP.
  7. Many industries and businesses depend on their own transportation operations (primarily trucking) to move goods. These “in-house” transportation services contributed an additional $142 billion to the economy (USDOT BTS 2001b).
  8. Freight transportation also contributes to the economy by providing jobs to millions of people—an important indicator of economic growth.
  9. In 2000, more than 10 million people were employed in transportation-related industries, including for-hire services, vehicle manufacturing, and parts suppliers.
  10. For-hire transportation (including warehousing) employed more than 4.4 million workers, a majority of whom worked in freight-related jobs.
  11. Another 5.5 million people worked in transportation occupations in non transportation industries, such as truck drivers for grocery stores (USDOT BTS 2001b).
  12. Truck drivers, alone, accounted for nearly 70 percent of the total number of transportation occupational workers (USDOT BTS 2002b).
  13. Improvements in freight productivity help the United States maintain its competitive position in the world economy.
  14. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that productivity for the intercity trucking, railroad, air transport, and petroleum pipeline industries has improved over the last 20 years.