The Land Transportation subsector consists of the Rail Transportation and Road Transportation industries.

• The Rail Transportation industry consists of companies that provide rail freight shipping and support services. Key activities include shipping containerized and bulk freight, including consumer goods and commodities. Rail companies typically own, maintain, and operate their rail networks, which may require significant capital expenditures. The U.S. operates the longest railroad network in the world, followed closely by Russia, China, India, Canada, Germany, and France. The industry exhibits economies of density due to its network effects, lending itself to natural monopoly conditions. Together with the large sunk costs of rail infrastructure, this provides a competitive advantage to incumbent firms in the industry and creates barriers to entry for new firms.
• The Road Transportation industry consists of companies that provide long- and short-haul freight trucking services. Key activities include the shipment of containerized and bulk freight, including consumer goods and a wide variety of commodities. The industry is commonly broken down into two categories: truckload (vehicles carrying the goods of only one customer) and less-than-truckload (vehicles carrying the goods of multiple customers). Owner-operators comprise the vast majority of the industry due to the relative ease of entry, while a few large operators maintain market share through contracts with major shippers. Large companies often subcontract with owner-operators to supplement their owned fleet.