U.S. Freight Transportation Forecast to 2020

"Like many other industries, trucking is experiencing a verydifficult time during the current economic recession," said ATAPresident and CEO Bill Graves. "Yet, all signs point to a strong,vital, long-term future for our industry. Trucking exclusivelyserves 80 percent of all communities in the U.S. for the productsand goods they receive. When the recovery begins, trucks will helplead the way."

The forecast looks at various modes of freight transportation,including truck (truckload, less-than-truckload, and privatecarriage), rail (carload and intermodal), domestic water, pipelineand domestic air. Though it projects volume and revenue growth forall modes, it says trucks' share of total tonnage will rise from68.8% last year to 70.9% by 2020, while rail's overall share willslip slightly from 14.9% to 14.7%. Air cargo tonnage is estimatedto grow from 14.5 million tons in 2008 to 22 million tons in2020.