Trucks carry the largest share of freight value across the five highest-value commodity groups moving through the US transportation system, according to modal share data compiled from federal freight statistics.

The full US freight system handled roughly 55 million tons of goods valued at approximately $19 trillion in 2023, distributed across truck, rail, air, water, and multimodal combinations. Road transport captures the dominant portion of that value in the leading commodity categories, a position that reflects the flexibility of truck movement for high-value and time-sensitive goods that cannot economically wait for rail scheduling or port handling.

Trucking contributes about $257.54 billion to US gross domestic product, a figure that measures the sector's direct economic output separate from the value of the cargo it carries. Within the sector, the local specialized freight trucking segment reached roughly $47.5 billion in market size, covering operations that handle goods requiring dedicated equipment or handling procedures.

The concentration of value in road transport carries implications for how supply chain disruption propagates. When truck capacity tightens or fuel costs move sharply, the effect reaches a broader cross section of high-value commerce than an equivalent disruption in rail or maritime capacity would produce. That exposure explains why fuel price movements and driver availability register as macroeconomic indicators rather than sector-specific metrics.

Source: Statista - https://www.statista.com/chart/33584/share-of-transportation-modes-in-the-us-freight-system-for-the-top-5-commodities-by-value/