20 Years of U.S. Transport Emissions

According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, in 2022, U.S. freight transport alone generated nearly 570 million metric tons of CO₂, a number that has been steadily growing for the last 20 years.

However, while all other transport types have increased emissions, rail freight transport has significantly decreased emissions over the same period.

For this graphic, Visual Capitalist partnered with The Greenbrier Companies to investigate how rail significantly reduced emissions.

Growing Transport Emissions

The total volume of greenhouse gas emissions released by U.S. transport (shown below in millions of metric tons) has steadily grown over the last two decades. In fact, since 2002, U.S. freight emissions have grown by 17%.

Transport Mode	2002	2022	% Change
Trucking	357	411	15%
Pipelines	37	69	88%
Rail	41	32	-23%
Ships and Other Boats	31	36	18%
Aircraft	21	21	0%
Total	486	569	17%

While the cause of much of this growth has been the increased emissions generated by trucking, which grew by 15% to 411 million metric tons in 2022, emissions from shipping and pipelines also rose over the last two decades—18% and 88%, respectively.

However, at the same time, rail emissions dropped by 23% to 32 million metric tons. The rail industry made this possible by emphasizing fuel efficiency.

The American Association of Railroads reports that one train can move a metric ton of materials 500 miles on a single gallon of fuel. Additionally, when looking at overall energy use, rail only consumed 3%* of the total energy used by U.S. transport in 2022.

These and many other factors have led to U.S. rail freight contributing only 1.8% of the overall emissions produced by U.S. transport.

Freight Rail: The Cleanest Transport Mode

While greenhouse gas emissions from every other U.S. transport mode have grown for over 20 years, rail freight has cut emissions by almost 25% during the same time.

The Greenbrier Companies are a global leader in freight railcar services, maintenance and parts, propelling transport toward a greener future.

Are you interested in learning more about how rail could serve your business?