Logistics connects production, retail and consumers through freight movement, warehousing and delivery. The statistics below define the relevant population, geography and period for each measure, while distinguishing observed results from modeled estimates, surveys and forecasts.
Key Logistics Industry Statistics
The following highlights summarize major logistics industry measures across the United States and global benchmarking:
- In 2023, the U.S. transportation system moved about 55.5 million tons of freight per day.
- In 2023, U.S. annual freight movement was approximately 20.2 billion tons.
- The U.S. transportation system moved freight valued at more than $51.2 billion per day in 2023.
- U.S. freight activity was forecast to reach 28.7 billion tons by 2050, 50% above 2020 tonnage.
- U.S. freight value was forecast to reach $36.2 trillion by 2050 in 2017 dollars.
- Trucks carried 65% of U.S. freight tonnage in the FAF baseline and were expected to remain the leading mode through 2050.
- Transportation and warehousing employed 6.6 million people in the United States in June 2024.
- Warehousing and storage represented 26.9% of U.S. transportation and warehousing employment in June 2024.
- Transportation and warehousing employment was projected to grow 8.6% from 2022 to 2032 in the United States.
- Trucks carried 13.139 billion tons of U.S. domestic freight in 2023.
- Truck freight represented 72% of U.S. domestic freight value in 2023.
- Adjusted U.S. e-commerce sales reached $308.910 billion in Q4 2024.
- E-commerce represented 16.4% of adjusted U.S. retail sales in Q4 2024.
- U.S. transportation and warehousing recorded 1,053 fatal occupational injuries in 2022.
- Transportation and warehousing recorded 255.5 thousand total recordable injury-and-illness cases in 2023.
- The 2023 International Logistics Performance Index covered 139 countries.
- Singapore scored 4.3 overall on the 2023 LPI, using a 1-to-5 perception-based scale.
Contents
- U.S. freight scale and long-term demand
- Transportation and warehousing employment
- Freight modes and domestic movement
- E-commerce and parcel logistics
- Logistics safety and commercial vehicle crashes
- Global logistics performance comparisons
U.S. Logistics Industry Freight Scale and Long-Term Demand
The Freight Analysis Framework (FAF) models commodity flows rather than recording every shipment as an observed census. Its projections therefore describe a scenario for future freight activity, with values expressed in the stated dollar basis.
The U.S. freight outlook includes these major measures:
- The FAF projected 28.7 billion tons of U.S. freight by 2050, 50% above 2020 tonnage.
- The FAF projected $36.2 trillion in U.S. freight value by 2050, about double the 2020 value in 2017 dollars.
- Domestic freight value was forecast to increase from $15.1 trillion in 2017 to $28.4 trillion in 2050.
- The FAF forecast domestic freight value growth at a 1.9% compound annual rate from 2017 to 2050.
- Average freight value was forecast to rise from $949 per ton in 2024 to $1,256 per ton in 2050, using inflation-controlled dollars.
- FAF estimated U.S. freight tonnage would grow about 1.2% per year from 2024 through 2050, which is a forecast rate rather than a realized historical CAGR.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics reports the 2050 tonnage, value and growth outlook. Its Moving Goods in the United States data story estimates that the system moved 20.2 billion tons valued at approximately $18.7 trillion during 2023, or about 55.5 million tons and more than $51.2 billion per day on an annual-average basis (BTS, Moving Goods in the United States).
Trucks carried 65% of U.S. freight tonnage in the FAF baseline and were expected to remain predominant in the 2050 outlook. The share is a modeled mode estimate, not a direct observation of every movement.
Transportation and Warehousing Employment Statistics and Workforce Mix
Transportation and warehousing is broader than freight logistics alone: the BLS industry grouping includes passenger transportation, couriers, support activities, warehousing and storage. June and July 2024 payroll figures describe jobs, while 2023 worker characteristics describe people in the Current Population Survey.
| U.S. industry measure | Period | Statistic |
|---|---|---|
| Transportation and warehousing employment | June 2024 | 6.6 million jobs |
| Share of private-sector jobs | June 2024 | 5% |
| Warehousing and storage share of industry employment | June 2024 | 26.9% |
| Truck transportation share of industry employment | June 2024 | 23.5% |
| Couriers and messengers share | June 2024 | 16.4% |
| Support activities for transportation share | June 2024 | 12.9% |
| Air transportation share | June 2024 | 8.8% |
The BLS transportation and warehousing employment profile reports the employment levels and industry distribution. BLS projected total transportation and warehousing employment to grow 8.6% from 2022 to 2032, with warehousing and storage up 13.1%, couriers and messengers up 17.9%, and truck transportation up 2.1% (BLS projections and industry profile).
These are projections, not observed results.
In July 2024, seasonally adjusted transportation and warehousing payroll employment was 6.636 million. The BLS payroll series also recorded 1.545 million truck transportation jobs, 1.0805 million general freight trucking jobs, and 575,500 air transportation jobs (BLS CES Table B-1a).
Worker composition provides a different lens from payroll totals. In 2023, men represented 75.1% of transportation and warehousing workers and women 24.9%; truck transportation was 88.1% men and 11.9% women, while warehousing and storage was 65.6% men and 34.4% women (BLS employment characteristics).
These percentages come from CPS worker characteristics and are not job counts.
U.S. Freight Mode Statistics: Trucks, Rail, Water, Air and Pipelines
FAF 5.5.1 estimates show how domestic freight differed by mode in 2023. Tonnage, ton-miles and value measure different aspects of movement and should not be treated as interchangeable.
| Mode or category | 2023 freight tonnage | Additional measure |
|---|---|---|
| Trucks | 13.139 billion tons | 2,483.9 billion domestic ton-miles |
| Rail | 1.489 billion tons | — |
| Water | 914 million tons | — |
| Air | 7 million tons | — |
| Pipeline | 3.808 billion tons | — |
| Multi-mode and mail | — | $3.655 trillion value |
The FHWA freight travel tables report these 2023 FAF estimates. Truck freight represented 45% of domestic freight travel by ton-miles and 72% of domestic freight value, with truck freight valued at $18.254 trillion in 2023-adjusted dollars.
The large truck share in value and ton-miles helps explain why truck transportation is central to logistics even though rail, water, air and pipelines carry substantial tonnage. The categories also differ in what they capture: the multi-mode and mail value combines modes and mail rather than describing one standalone transport technology.
E-commerce Statistics Shaping Warehousing and Parcel Logistics
E-commerce provides a retail-demand measure that helps explain pressure on fulfillment, parcel handling and last-mile networks. The Census definition includes orders placed or negotiated through internet, mobile, extranet, EDI, email or comparable online systems.
| Retail measure | Q1 2024 | Q4 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Adjusted e-commerce sales | $287.855 billion | $308.910 billion |
| E-commerce share of adjusted retail sales | 15.8% | 16.4% |
The Census Bureau Q4 2024 retail e-commerce release marks the Q4 figures as preliminary estimates. Adjusted total U.S. retail sales were $1.883303 trillion in Q4 2024, and adjusted e-commerce sales grew 2.7% from Q3 to Q4 2024 and 9.4% from Q4 2023 to Q4 2024.
These figures describe retail sales, not warehouse capacity or parcel counts. Their logistics relevance is the scale and growth of orders requiring inventory positioning, picking, packing, transportation and delivery, while the underlying Census estimate includes multiple electronic ordering channels.
Logistics Safety, Injuries and Commercial Vehicle Crash Statistics
Safety statistics cover both workplace incidents and roadway crashes. Workplace incidence rates use the BLS denominator of 200,000 hours per 100 full-time-equivalent workers, while FMCSA crash rates use state total vehicle miles traveled.
In 2022, transportation and warehousing recorded 4.8 nonfatal work-related injury and illness cases per 100 FTE workers and 1,053 fatal occupational injuries. Truck transportation accounted for 704 of those fatal injuries, while support activities for transportation accounted for 118 (BLS transportation and warehousing profile).
The 2023 BLS employer survey recorded a 4.4% total recordable injury-and-illness incidence rate and 255.5 thousand total recordable cases for transportation and warehousing (BLS Employer-Reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses—2023). The 2022 and 2023 measures come from different periods and should not be read as a single-year change calculation.
| State | Large-truck and bus crash fatalities, 2022 | Fatalities per 100 million total VMT |
|---|---|---|
| California | 436 | 0.14 |
| Texas | 806 | 0.27 |
The FMCSA Pocket Guide to Large Truck and Bus Statistics reports these state figures. FMCSA defines a large truck as a vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating over 10,000 pounds and a bus as a vehicle with at least nine seats including the driver; the fatalities involve large-truck and bus fatal crashes and are not necessarily occupants only.
Global Logistics Performance Statistics and Country Comparisons
The World Bank’s 2023 Logistics Performance Index (LPI) covered 139 countries. It is a perception-based composite benchmark covering six dimensions, so its scores are not direct observations of shipment time, freight cost or shipment volume.
| Country | 2023 overall LPI score | 2023 infrastructure score |
|---|---|---|
| Singapore | 4.3 | 4.6 |
| Finland | 4.2 | — |
| Denmark | 4.1 | — |
| Germany | 4.1 | — |
| Mexico | 2.9 | — |
| Argentina | 2.8 | — |
The World Bank’s 2023 LPI report provides the overall and infrastructure scores on a 1-to-5 scale. The World Bank LPI DataBank provides the broader country ranking series for 2007–2023.
The comparison indicates differences in perceived logistics performance across countries, but it does not establish that one country has a particular shipment cost or delivery time without a separate direct measure. Keeping the index’s survey basis explicit is essential when using it alongside U.S. freight, employment, retail and safety statistics.