This study uses microeconomic data from the transportation systems of land cargo in Colombia: rail and trucking, to determine their degree of allocative efficiency through the non-parametric method Data Envelopment Analysis DEA. The average overall efficiency found was 74.4% for trains and 20.56% for trucks. These figures indicate that rail is more efficient in the allocation of resources. This means that trains in Colombia use their input better than trucks to maximize their production, given the costs and technological characteristics of each system. This is a signal for the design of a public policy for investment in transportation infrastructure that seeks to raise the competitiveness of Colombian exports, investing not only in roads but in complementary systems such as railways too. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.