DOT: U.S. freight industry moves $29 billion of merchandise per day

DOT: U.S. freight industry moves $29 billion of merchandise per day    Air freight, led by express delivery companies, is the fastest growing sector of the U.S. cargo industry in terms of the value of goods moved, with total value doubling between 1993 and 2002 and now standing at $2.7 billion per day, according to a U.S. Department of Transportation study of domestic freight shipments.
   The value of intermodal air freight also doubled during that period, with almost $1 out of every $13 worth of goods shipped in the United States now transported by air-truck combination.
   Shipments by parcel, postal or courier service grew more than 80 percent by value, reaching $39,000 per ton.
   Air freight, however, is still only a fraction of the total shipment activity. On a typical day, U.S. carriers in all modes move 43 million tons of goods valued at $29 billion, which represents 2 billion ton-miles.
   “Cargo is one of the fastest-growing segments of the U.S. economy,” Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said in a statement.
   During the 10-year period beginning in 1993, the total amount of freight transported in America grew 18 percent to 16 billion tons from 13 billon tons while the total value of that freight grew 45 percent to $10.5 trillion, up from $7.2 trillion, representing 5 trillion ton-miles. The biggest increase was in the small parcel industry, which experienced 56 percent growth in the value of shipments carried under 500 pounds.
   The data from the survey of transportation providers shows that trucking still controls the largest piece of the freight market. In 2002 trucks moved 64 percent of freight by value, 58 percent by weight and 32 percent in terms of ton-miles.
   Other findings in the report are:
   * Electronic, electrical and office equipment accounted for $948 billion, or 10 percent, of the freight value in 2002.
   * The typical freight shipment traveled nearly 40 percent farther in 2002 than in 1993 — 590 miles compared to 420 miles.
   * Freight transportation productivity continues to improve, moving fewer ton-miles compared to total Gross Domestic Product than in 1970.
   * In 2003, the nation’s transportation network carried nearly $2 trillion worth of U.S. international freight ($724 billion in exports and $1.26 billion in imports), or almost one-fifth of the nation’s overall freight activity by all modes.
   The report was released during a ceremony at Louisville International Airport, which Tuesday received a $6.2-million DOT grant to expand its cargo runway and realign access roads to make it easier for trucks to ferry goods in and out of the airport. The grant will fund an extension of the airport’s main cargo runway to allow larger cargo aircraft to take off and land while fully loaded as traffic between China and other international connections grows.
   Louisville International Airport is the world hub for UPS, the global integrated logistics and parcel delivery company which operates the 10th-largest airline in the world.