Economic Census - Transportation

Definition: The Transportation and Warehousing sector includes industries providing transportation of passengers and cargo, warehousing and storage for goods, scenic and sightseeing transportation, and support activities related to modes of transportation. Establishments in these industries use transportation equipment or transportation related facilities as a productive asset. The type of equipment depends on the mode of transportation. The modes of transportation are air, rail, water, road, and pipeline.

Many of the establishments in this sector often operate on networks, with physical facilities, labor forces, and equipment spread over an extensive geographic area.

Excluded from this sector are establishments primarily engaged in providing travel agent services that support transportation and other establishments, such as hotels, businesses, and government agencies. These establishments are classified in Sector 56, Administrative and Support, Waste Management, and Remediation Services. Also, establishments primarily engaged in providing rental and leasing of transportation equipment without operator are classified in Subsector 532, Rental and Leasing Services.

Comparability with SIC data: The Transportation and Warehousing sector (new) was created from selected industries in SIC Division E, Transportation, Communications, and Utilities. While most of the changes affecting transportation and warehousing were minor at the sector level, some industries left transportation and warehousing and others came into this sector. Prominent among those leaving transportation and warehousing are travel agencies, tour operators, miniwarehouses, marinas, waste collection, and ambulances. Prominent among the industries coming into the Transportation and Warehousing sector are automotive vehicle towing services. Note that large certificated passenger air transportation, rail transportation, and the postal service, although part of this sector, are not in scope of the 1997 Economic Census.

Geographic detail: The Economic Census publishes data for the transportation and warehousing sector only for the U.S., states, and metropolitan areas.

The Census of Transportation is updated by the following sites, all from the Census Bureau unless otherwise noted:

Current Industrial Report - Truck Trailers
Transportation Annual Survey
Vehicle Inventory and Use Survey
Economic Data for Class 1 Railroads (U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Surface Transportation Board)
Motor Carrier Financial and Operating Statistics Products & Reports (U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics)
National Transit Database (U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration)
County Business Patterns: County Business Patterns is an annual series that provides subnational economic data by industry. The series is useful for studying the economic activity of small areas; analyzing economic changes over time; and as a benchmark for statistical series, surveys, and databases between economic censuses. This series has been published annually since 1964 and at irregular intervals dating back to 1946. The comparability of data over time may be affected by definitional changes in establishments, activity status, and industrial classifications.

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