Highlights from the economic report

Diesel Moves 80 Percent Of All Freight. Diesel-powered trucks, trains, ships and intermodal systems moved 83 percent of freight by value ($11.7 trillion) and 85 percent by weight (12.5 billion tons) in 2007.

Diesel Is Dominant In Agriculture, Mining & Construction Industries: In 2009, agriculture produced $330 billion in output, of which $27.2 billion was for farm sales, contributing $176.6 billion to the nation’s GDP. Total added value of agriculture to the U.S. economy is estimated to be $365 billion. Farms employed 2.1 million in 2008.

Diesel Powers Extractive Industries: Over 60 percent of mining and fuel production equipment is diesel-powered. The nation gets 93 percent of its energy from mined sources, such as petroleum, natural gas, coal and uranium.

Construction Relies on Diesel: Diesel is the dominant fuel source, powering 60 percent of construction equipment and using 98 percent of all energy.

Diesel Powers Over 70 Percent Transit Buses: Approximately 71 percent of transit buses and 58 percent of commuter rail passenger-miles are provided by diesel-fueled trains.

Clean Diesel Auto Sales Projected To Increase Significantly: Currently, only 3.4 percent of the cars in the U.S. are diesel-powered. Diesel accounts for a larger share of pickup trucks (13.6 percent). However, clean diesel sales are increasing and diesel auto sales increased 37 percent during the first eight months of 2011 compared to the same period in 2010 (the overall automobile market increased 10.4 percent). Some analysts predict that diesel passenger cars will account for 10 percent of the market by 2015.