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U.S. railroads are among three transportation modes that significantly increased ton-miles between 1996 and 2005, according to a report recently issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

The “Decade of Growth in Domestic Freight” report shows railroads, trucks and air carriers gained ton-miles, while pipelines and waterways registered declines during the 10-year span.

Domestic freight traffic in 2005 alone totaled more than 4.5 trillion ton-miles, up more than 350 billion ton-miles compared with 1996.

“[But] while there was mostly year-to-year growth in overall ton-miles during the decade, total domestic ton-miles declined 0.1 percent from 2004 to 2005,” the report states.