Explore key data and statistics on the U.S. freight rail industry, including traffic volumes, what railroads haul, safety performance and economic impact. For in-depth, downloadable resources, visit our PDF Fact Sheets page to access printable versions of our data and policy materials. You can find additional resources in our About Us page.

Freight Rail Safety

  • The freight rail industry is one of the safest places to work in America.
  • Freight railroads are the safest way to move goods over land, and 2025 was a record-breaking year ever for the rail industry.
  • Year-over-Year Improvements
    • The overall train accident rate down 14%
    • Derailments down 13.6%
    • Human factors-related incidents down 19.7%
    • Equipment-caused accidents down 12.1%
    • Track-caused accidents down 7.7%
    • Mainline accidents down 2.8% industry-wide and 6.1% among Class I railroads
  • Long-term Safety Gaines Since 2005
    • The overall train accident rates are down by about 40%
    • Derailments are down by about 46%
    • Mainline accidents are down by about 37% industry-wide and 44% among Class I railroads
    • Track-caused accidents are down 53%
    • Human factors-related accidents are down 41%
    • Class I employee casualty rates are down 54%, reaching a record low in 2025
    • On-duty fatalities are down by about 67%
    • Hazmat accident rates are down 75% since 2005, with recent years having the lowest rates on record. More than 99.99% of all hazmat moved by rail reaches its destination without a release caused by a train accident.
  • Grade crossing incidents were essentially flat year-over-year and show only modest long‑term improvement. Because grade crossings involve shared spaces between roads and railroads, risks cannot be reduced by railroads alone. Programs such as the Grade Crossing Elimination Program and Section 130 grants play a crucial role in delivering measurable safety improvements.

Freight Rail’s Private Investments

  • Freight railroads privately invest more than $23 billion annually.
  • From 1980 through 2024, U.S. freight railroads reinvested approximately $840 billion—close to $1.4 trillion in today’s dollars—of their own funds, not taxpayer funds, on capital expenditures and maintenance expenses related to locomotives, freight cars, tracks, bridges, tunnels and other infrastructure and equipment. It is $1 billion more than the historic investments Congress has made in 2021 in rail and multi-modal programs in the IIJA and the omnibus combined.
  • The average U.S. manufacturer historically spends about 3% of revenue on capital expenditures. The comparable figure for U.S. freight railroads between 2014 and 2023 averaged more than 18% or six times higher.

Freight Rail’s Economic Impact

  • Rail is a major driver of economic activity, generating $233.4 billion in total economic output in 2023.
  • In 2023, Class I railroads reinvested $26.8 billion in modernizing infrastructure, enhancing safety and improving reliability.
  • Every $1 invested in rail transportation drives $2.50 in economic activity.

Freight Rail’s Positive Environmental Impact

  • Freight railroads account for roughly 40% of U.S. long-distance freight volume (measured by ton-miles)—more than any other mode of transportation. However, they account for just 0.5% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to EPA data, and just 1.8% of transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Railroads are the most fuel-efficient way to move freight over land, moving one ton of freight nearly 500 miles per gallon of fuel, on average.
  • On average, railroads are three to four times more fuel-efficient than trucks.
  • A single freight train can replace several hundred trucks.
  • Greenhouse gas emissions are directly related to fuel consumption. That means moving freight by rail instead of truck lowers greenhouse gas emissions by up to 75%, on average.
  • If 10% of the freight shipped by the largest trucks were moved by rail instead, greenhouse gas emissions would fall by nearly 20 million tons annually. That’s the equivalent of removing 4.3 million cars from our highways or planting 300 million trees.
  • Today’s fuel-efficient locomotives have emitted fewer criteria pollutants and GHGs over the past decade. Idling-reduction technology, such as stop-start systems, can reduce unnecessary idle time by 50%.
  • Advanced software improves fuel efficiency by up to 14% by calculating the most efficient speed, spacing and timing of trains.
  • In 2023 alone, U.S. freight railroads consumed 709 million fewer gallons of fuel and emitted 7.9 million fewer tons of carbon dioxide than they would have if their fuel efficiency had remained constant since 2000.
  • If railroads did not move freight in the United States, it would take more than 80 million additional trucks traveling on public roadways and would take up to four times more fuel than rail to handle the freight Americans rely on every day.

Freight Rail Jobs

  • The industry directly employs 153,000 workers, but its total employment impact is far greater—supporting 749,000 jobs nationwide through supply chains and consumer spending.
  • Every railroad job creates 3.9 additional jobs in industries like manufacturing, logistics and technology.
  • About one in six rail employees are veterans.
  • The median tenure of railroad employees is 13.8 years (compared to 3.9 years for other private sector workers).
  • The average Class I railroad employee’s annual pay and benefit package is valued from $135,000 to almost $190,000.
  • Career railroaders (those 60+ who have served at least 30 years) receive more than two times as much retirement income as the average Social Security recipient.
  • Class I rail carriers and several of their union partners have already reached — and in many cases, ratified and implemented—more than 50 local and national collective bargaining agreements to resolve the 2025 bargaining round. 

Capacity & Rates

  • The freight rail network is nearly 140,000 miles.
  • There are six Class I railroads and approximately 615 short line railroads (Class II and III).
  • Class I railroads account for around 67% of freight rail mileage, 87% of employees and 94% of revenue.
  • The Federal Highway Administration forecasts that total U.S. freight movements will rise about 30% by 2040.
  • Average rail rates (measured by inflation-adjusted revenue per ton-mile) were 44% lower in 2024 than in 1981. This means the average rail shipper can move much more freight for the same price it paid more than 40 years ago.

Chicago

  • For 150 years, Chicago has remained the nation’s busiest rail hub.
  • All six U.S. Class I railroads operate there, as do many non-Class I railroads.
  • Approximately one in four rail carloads and intermodal units originate, terminate or pass through the Chicago area.

Amtrak

  • Amtrak owns 623 route miles (primarily in the Northeast) and operates, maintains, and dispatches another 229 route miles in Michigan and New York.
  • The vast majority of the remaining 96% of Amtrak’s more than 21,400-mile system consists of tracks owned and maintained by freight railroads.
  • Around 70% of the miles traveled by Amtrak trains are on freight-owned tracks.

What Freight Railroads Haul

  • Freight rail accounts for around 40% of long-distance ton-miles—more than any other mode of transportation.
  • Freight rail is part of an integrated network of trains, trucks and barges that ships around 59 tons of goods per American every year.
  • In a typical year, freight railroads haul around 1.5 billion tons of raw materials and finished goods.
  • Redesigned railcars have helped increase average tonnage. In 2023, the average freight train carried 3,948 tons, up from 2,923 tons in 2000.

Agricultural & Food Products

  • In a typical year, railroads haul around 1.6 million carloads of grain and other farm products, more than 1.7 million carloads of food products, and several hundred thousand carloads of fertilizers and the raw materials that go into making them.
  • Railroads typically carry more than 60,000 carloads of food and agriculture products per week.
  • One railcar can carry enough: Flour for about 258,000 loaves of bread, or Corn for the lifetime feeding of 37,000 chickens or Barley for about 94,000 gallons of beer or Soybeans for about 400,000 pounds of tofu.

Chemicals

  • Chemicals help clean our water, fertilize our farms, package our food, build our cars and homes, protect our health, and enhance our well-being in thousands of other ways.
  • Freight railroads moved 2.3 million carloads of plastics, fertilizers and other chemicals in 2022.
  • One rail tank car of anhydrous ammonia carries the equivalent of around four tanker trucks and enough to fertilize 770 acres of corn.

Coal

  • Freight railroads moved 3.4 million carloads of coal in 2022.
  • While rail coal volumes have declined in recent years, railroads account for around 70% of U.S. coal deliveries to power plants.
  • One rail car can carry enough coal to power 20 homes for a year.

Construction & Pulp/Paper

  • Freight railroads move more than two million carloads of construction-related materials in a typical year.
  • One rail car to carry as much crushed stone, sand and gravel as five trucks.
  • The U.S. pulp and paper industry is one of the largest industries in the world. In a typical year, America’s freight railroads carry around 700,000 carloads of pulp and paper products.

Crude Oil

  • In 2023, the average carload of crude oil originated in the United States carried around 650 barrels of oil. Based on that, the 97,000 carloads of crude oil originated by U.S. Class I railroads in 2023 was equivalent to around 173,000 barrels per day, or approximately 1.3% of U.S. production. 
  • One rail carries enough crude oil to make approximately 13,500 gallons of gasoline.

Grain

  • The United States is the world’s largest grain producer.
  • Railroads account for well over a third of U.S. grain export movements, according to the USDA.
  • Corn is by far the highest-volume grain carried by railroads.
  • As of early 2023, the North American railroad grain car fleet consisted of around 273,000 cars (owned by railroads and non-railroads) with a 1.4 billion cubic feet capacity.

Intermodal

  • In 2023, U.S. rail intermodal volume was 12.7 million units, and intermodal accounted for approximately 25% of revenue for major U.S. railroads, more than any other single rail traffic segment.
  • Intermodal has been the fastest-growing major rail traffic segment over the past 25 years.
  • Around half of rail intermodal volume consists of imports or exports, reflecting the vital role intermodal plays in international trade.

Motor Vehicles & Parts

  • In 2024, automakers sold about 15.85 million light vehicles, including cars and light trucks, marking a 2.2% increase over 2023, an achievement made possible in large part by freight railroads. 
  • Freight railroads are part of every production stage of an automobile—from moving raw materials and auto parts to delivering a finished car or truck to dealerships across the nation.
  • In a typical year, U.S. Class I railroads carry 1.8 million carloads of motor vehicles and parts. 
  • With a single train capable of carrying hundreds of cars, freight rail transports around 75% of the new cars and light trucks purchased in the U.S.