Truck transportation, courier and messengers, and warehousing and storage revenues reached $266 billion in 2004, up from $246 billion the year before, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today.

     Truck transportation alone reached $186 billion in 2004, up 10.4 percent. Courier and messenger revenues grew 4.0 percent to $62 billion.

     The report, 2004 Service Annual Survey: Truck Transportation, Couriers and Messengers, and Warehousing and Storage, showed the following highlights for employer firms:

• General freight trucking contributed approximately two-thirds of all trucking revenue, with $125 billion in 2004. Trucks transporting specialized freight (requiring equipment such as flatbeds, tankers or refrigerated trailers) accounted for the remainder of revenue, at $61 billion.

• For-hire, local general freight trucking revenues grew 8.0 percent to $20 billion.

• Long-distance general freight revenues increased 10.7 percent to $105 billion.

• Motor carrier revenues were up 10.5 percent to $175 billion.

• Revenue from hazardous materials shipments increased 9.4 percent to $10 billion.

     Truck transportation excludes private motor carriers that operate as auxiliary establishments of nontransportation companies. Results of the survey also provide estimates for revenue by commodity shipped and inventories of revenue-generating equipment.

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Estimates in this report are based on data from the 2004 Service Annual Survey and apply only to employer firms. They contain sampling and nonsampling errors. To keep the identity of an individual firm confidential, some estimates may be suppressed. Users making their own estimates, based on the survey estimates, should cite the U.S. Census Bureau as the source of the original estimates only. See <http://www.census.gov/svsd/www/cv.html> for measures of sampling variability and other survey information.