Top 15 Commodity Groups Ranked by Value Per Ton, United States, 2017

Top 10 Commodity Groups Ranked by Value Per Ton United States 2002

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics and Federal Highway Administration, Freight Analysis Framework, version 4.5, 2019.

Different goods have different values when they are transported, often expressed as a ratio of value per ton. While the average ratio was about $900 for all the freight transported in the United States, many products have a significantly higher ratio. The higher the value per ton, the less transport costs play as a factor in freight distribution, and the more time and reliability prevail as prime transport factors. Pharmaceutical and electronic products have the highest ratio, about $49,000 per ton. These products are reflective of the share transportation costs have on their final value and the length at which they are transported.