The Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program will release twin reports examining the volume of goods flowing through U.S. ports and across the nation by truck, train, boat, plane, and pipeline. The reports explore how metropolitan areas drive the flow of goods domestically and internationally, with significant implications for national, regional, and local infrastructure policy. “The Great Port Mismatch: U.S. Goods Trade and International Transportation” focuses on the role air, land, and sea ports play on the movement of goods at a regional level and the spatial mismatch between a port’s jurisdictional home and its economic importance to the country as a whole. For example: “Metro Modes: Charting a Path for the U.S. Freight Transportation Network,” examines the movement of goods via trucks, railroads, airports, waterways, and pipelines between different regions nationally, revealing the need for more targeted freight investments. Findings include: The analyses, by Adie Tomer, senior research associate and associate fellow, and Joseph Kane, senior research assistant, use a unique database developed by Brookings and the Economic Development Research Group to examine goods traded across regions.
  • Only 4 percent of goods moving through ports start or end in the port’s local market. Ports primarily serve customers in other parts of the U.S.
  • The largest 25 port complexes in the U.S. move 85 percent of all internationally traded goods.
  • The average international good travels over 1,000 miles within the U.S. to get from a port to its market, underscoring how international trade relies on the domestic freight network.
  • Trucks dominate domestic goods trade, carrying up to 75 percent of the value and weight of commodities. Air modes tend to move high-value commodities like precision instruments, and railroads and pipelines specialize in raw materials like energy.
  • Between neighboring metro areas like Dallas/Houston and Washington/Baltimore, trucks can account for 90 percent or more of freight activity, and this mode heavily influences their own and national infrastructure needs.
As congestion costs rise and budgets for infrastructure investments shrink, these reports shed light on priority infrastructure assets and corridors. By tailoring freight plans and investments to regional trade flows and specialties, federal, state, and local leaders will be able to support more efficient goods movement.