Transportation Economic Trends
Cost of Transportation:
Costs Faced by Producers
The major inputs to produce transportation services include labor, equipment, fuel, and infrastructure. This page discusses equipment prices. See Employment by Industry and Employment by Occupation for labor data; Cost of Fuel for fuel data; and Value of Transportation and Other Infrastructure for infrastructure data.
2023 Year-in-Review
As measured by the Producer Price Index (PPI), the amount received for transportation equipment increased in 2023. The increase continues an upward rise, suggesting
a continued increase in the price of transportation equipment.
- From 2022 to 2023, the price for transportation equipment grew by the second largest amount (3.1%) on record (with records beginning in 2004).
- Among the types of transportation equipment, the price for ships and boats and aircraft increased the most from 2022 to 2023 (4.8% and 4.7%, respectively) - the second largest year-over-year price increase for each. The price of railroad rolling stock and automobile and light duty motor vehicles rose less at 2.7% and 2.4%, respectively, and the increase ranked only fifth and sixth highest, respectively. Except aircraft, the price for all types of transportation equipment rose the most from 2021 to 2022.
Costs to Produce Transportation Services
Price for Transportation Equipment
PPI shows the average change over time in the amount received by producers of transportation equipment, for example, the amount received by aircraft manufacturers. If the amount firms receive rises, then the price faced by purchasers likely increases—making transportation equipment a larger cost in producing transportation services.
Since 2004, the price for aircraft, ships and boats, and railroad rolling stock has risen at a faster rate than automobiles.
Annual data are an average of monthly values.
Recommended citation
U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Transportation Economic Trends, available at www.bts.gov/product/transportation-economic-trends.
