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Commodity Flow Survey (CFS)
What is the purpose of the Commodity Flow Survey (CFS)?
Who conducts the CFS and how often is it conducted?
What types of establishments are included in the
CFS?
The NAICS industries covered in the
2007 CFS are listed in the following table
What type of information is collected in the
CFS?
How were the data collected in this survey?
What are some common uses of the data?
When will data products be available from the 2007
CFS?
What are some of the differences between the 2007 survey
and the 2002 or earlier surveys?
Comparison of
Industry Coverage
Sample Size
Survey Methodology
Reported Mode of
Transportation
Data Items Requested for
Each Reported Shipment
What is the
purpose of the Commodity Flow Survey (CFS)?
The CFS
provides a comprehensive picture of national freight flows, and is the only
available source of data for the highway mode that carries about 71 percent of
the value and 69 percent of the tonnage of freight transported. The primary goal of the 2007 Commodity Flow
Survey (CFS) is to estimate shipping volumes (value, tons, and ton-miles) by
commodity and mode of transportation at varying levels of geographic detail
(i.e., national, state, select MSAs). A secondary
objective is to estimate the volume of shipments moving from one geographic
area to another (e.g., flows of commodities between states, regions, etc.) by
mode and commodity.
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Who conducts the
CFS and how often is it conducted?
The CFS is conducted as a partnership between
the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau. The survey is conducted on a five-year cycle
as a component of the economic census. The three previous surveys were conducted in 1993, 1997, and 2002.
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What types of establishments are included in the CFS?
The CFS is a shipper-based
survey, and captures data on shipments originating from select types of
business establishments located in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The
2007 survey sampled over 100,000 establishments with
paid employees that were located in the United States and were classified,
using the 2002 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) in mining,
manufacturing, wholesale trade, and select retail trade industries (electronic
shopping, mail-order houses, and fuel dealers). The survey also covers auxiliary establishments (i.e., warehouses and
managing offices) of multi-establishment companies, which had nonauxiliary establishments that were in-scope to the CFS
or were classified in retail trade.
The CFS does not include establishments classified in forestry,
fishing, utilities, construction, transportation, and most retail and services
industries. Farms and government-owned
entities (except government-owned liquor stores) were also excluded. Foreign-based business importing to the
United States are also excluded from the survey sample; however, in theory,
domestic portions of imported shipments can be captured in the CFS once
arriving at a U.S. based establishment (assuming it is an eligible shipping
establishment included in the CFS).
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The NAICS industries
covered in the 2007 CFS are listed in the following table:
212 |
Mining (Except Oil and Gas) |
311 |
Food Manufacturing |
312 |
Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing |
313 |
Textile Mills |
314 |
Textile Product Mills |
315 |
Apparel Manufacturing |
316 |
Leather and Allied Product Manufacturing |
321 |
Wood Product Manufacturing |
322 |
Paper Manufacturing |
323 |
Printing and Related Support Activities (except 323122) |
324 |
Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing |
325 |
Chemical Manufacturing |
326 |
Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing |
327 |
Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing |
331 |
Primary Metal Manufacturing |
332 |
Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing |
333 |
Machinery Manufacturing |
334 |
Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing |
335 |
Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing |
336 |
Transportation Equipment Manufacturing |
337 |
Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing |
339 |
Miscellaneous Manufacturing |
423 |
Wholesale Trade, Durable Goods |
424 |
Wholesale Trade, Nondurable Goods |
4541 |
Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses |
45431 |
Fuel Dealers |
4931 |
Warehousing and Storage |
5111 |
Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers |
51223 |
Music Publishers |
551114 |
Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices |
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What type of
information is collected in the CFS?
The CFS collects information about
the commodities shipped by
U.S. establishments. Information collected for each outbound
shipment includes:
- Shipment
ID Number
- Shipment
Date (Month, Day)
- Shipment
Value
- Shipment
Weight in pounds
- Commodity
Code from Standard Classification of Transported Goods (SCTG) List
- Commodity
Description
- Hazmat
Flag (United Nations (UN) or North American (NA) number)
- U.S.
Destination (City, State, Zip code) - Gateway for Export Shipment
- Modes
of Transport
- Foreign
Destination (Exports only - City, Country)
- Export
Mode
By
CFS definition, a shipment is a single movement of goods, commodities, or
products from an establishment to a single customer or to another establishment
owned or operated by the same company as the originating establishment (e.g., a
warehouse, distribution center, or retail or wholesale outlet). Full or partial
truckloads are counted as a single shipment only if all commodities on the
truck are destined for the same location. If a truck makes multiple deliveries
on a route, the goods delivered at each stop are counted as one shipment.
Interoffice memos, payroll checks, or business correspondence are not
considered shipments. Shipments such as refuse, scrap paper, waste, or
recyclable materials are not considered shipments unless the establishment is
in the business of selling or providing these materials.
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How were the data
collected in this survey?
The sample for the 2007 CFS consisted
of over 100,000 establishments. Each establishment
selected into the 2007 CFS sample was mailed a questionnaire four times during
the calendar year 2007. Each of the 4-weeks was in the same relative position
of the calendar quarter. The
establishments were asked to provide specific shipment information about a
sample of their individual outbound shipments during a pre-specified one-week
period in each calendar quarter. Respondents who were interested in electronic
reporting could request and use a secure electronic reporting option. In such cases, the requested data were
entered in an electronic spreadsheet and were returned via secure electronic
transmission.
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What are some
common uses of the data?
Analysts and researchers in both the public
and private sectors use data from the CFS for a variety of purposes, including:
- analyzing trends in goods
movement over time;
- conducting national, regional
and sectoral economic analysis;
- developing models and
analytical tools for policy analyses, management and investment decisions;
- forecasting future demand for
goods movement and associated infrastructure and equipment needs;
- establishing benchmarks for
estimating national accounts; and
- analyzing and mapping spatial patterns
of commodity and vehicle flows.
CFS data are used as the basis for the Federal
Highway Administration’s Freight Analysis Framework, a model that displays by
mode the movement of goods over the national transportation network.
In addition, the CFS Hazardous Materials
report is the sole source of hazardous materials flow data available for the
highway mode.
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When will data
products be available from the 2007 CFS?
The first
six preliminary data tables from the 2007 survey were released December 9, 2008 and are available on the BTS
website at: http://www.bts.gov/publications/commodity_flow_survey/preliminary_tables_december_2008/index.html
These
tables provide shipment characteristics (value, tons, ton-miles, average miles)
by:
- mode
of transport
- total
modal activity
- distance
shipped
- weight
of shipments
- industry*
- commodity
shipped
*New for 2007 - a data table based on type of industry
as defined by the 2002 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).
Final data
products will be released in December
2009 and will include a comprehensive set of data tables, such as:
- shipment characteristics at the
national, state, and 73 select metropolitan statistical area levels (as
well as ‘rest-of-state’ totals)
- geographic flow tables by
commodity, industry, and mode
- specially tabulated tables for
hazardous materials and exports
NOTE: The
majority of 2007 CFS data products will be made available only via electronic media released on the BTS website http://www.bts.gov/programs/commodity_flow_survey/ or the Census Bureau’s
American FactFinder website www.factfinder.census.gov. The
final data release will include only three printed publications at the national
level. These reports will include
national-level data for the:
- United States
- Hazardous Materials
- Exports
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What are some of
the differences between the 2007 survey and the 2002 or earlier surveys?
The
planning and design of the 2007 CFS involved an extensive 3-year effort
resulting in several major improvements to the design of the survey. Highlighted efforts and improvements included:
- improved
sample design – the sample size was restored to over 100,000 establishments
(50,000 in 2002), incorporating both state-level and national-level reliability
constraints for the first time;
- expanded
coverage of shipping industries and geography;
- a precanvass survey (advance
survey) to increase sample efficiency;
- formal pretesting leading to
improved forms and data collection procedures;
- improved data processing,
including revisions of editing and imputation procedures and quality
assurance;
- enhanced processing to
determine the mileage traveled by shipments, most notably through the use
of Geographic Information System (GIS) technology that focuses on
improvements in the routing logic and systematic output for consistent
error detection and correction; and
- improved data products and
dissemination methods, including the application of new non-disclosure
methodology.
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The
following tables include a summary comparison of the other key characteristics
among the 1993, 1997, 2002, and 2007 Commodity Flow Surveys.
Comparison of Industry
Coverage
Establishments
classified based on the 1987 Standard Industrial Classification System (SIC) |
Establishments
classified based on 1997 North American Industry Classification System
(NAICS) |
Establishments
classified based on 2002 North American Industry Classification System
(NAICS) |
Publishers
in Manufacturing Sector |
Not
covered1 |
Publishers
in Information Sector1 |
Logging in
Manufacturing Sector |
Not
covered2 |
Not covered |
Other
Manufacturing (excluding Printing Trade Services (SIC 279)) |
Other
Manufacturing (excluding Prepress Services (NAICS 323122)) |
Other
Manufacturing (excluding Prepress Services (NAICS 323122)) |
Mining
(except mining services (SICs 108, 124, 138, 148)
and oil and gas extraction (SICs 131 and 132)) |
Mining
(except support activities (NAICS 213) and oil and gas extraction (NAICS
211)) |
Mining
(except support activities (NAICS 213) and oil and gas extraction (NAICS
211)) |
Wholesale
(merchants and manufacturers' sales branches and government- owned liquor
stores) |
Wholesale
(merchants and manufacturers' sales branches and government- owned liquor
stores) |
Wholesale
(merchants and manufacturers' sales branches and government- owned liquor
stores) |
Retail -
catalog and mail order houses |
Retail -
electronic shopping and mail order houses |
Retail -
electronic shopping and mail order houses, fuel dealers |
Auxiliaries
(e.g., warehouses) |
Auxiliaries
(e.g., warehouses) |
Auxiliaries
(e.g., warehouses)3 |
1 Under NAICS, publishers were
reclassified from Manufacturing (SIC 2711, 2721, 2731, 2741, and part of 2771)
to Information (NAICS 5111 and 51223) and were excluded in the 2002 CFS.
However, for the 2007 CFS, publishers were restored as an in-scope industry.
2 Because of changes in the
classification of establishments between SIC and NAICS, logging establishments
(NAICS 1133), which were covered as part of Manufacturing in the 1993 and 1997
surveys, were not included in 2002 and 2007. Detailed information about NAICS
classification can be found on the Census Bureau's NAICS Web site.
3 While included in all surveys, the
procedures for identifying in-scope auxiliary establishments has changed over
the years. For the 1997 CFS, a managing office was considered in-scope only if
it had sales or end-of-year inventories in the 1992 Census. Research conducted
prior to the 2002 CFS showed that not all managing offices with shipping
activity in the 1997 CFS indicated sales or inventories in the 1997 Economic
Census. Consequently the 1997 Economic Census results were not used to
determine scope for managing offices in the 2002 CFS. For 2002, an auxiliary
was included if it supported an inscope or retail
company. For the 2007 CFS, an advance survey of approximately 40,000 auxiliary
establishments was conducted in 2006 to identify auxiliary establishments with
shipping activity. Those that indicated that shipping was performed (as well as
non-respondents) were included in the CFS sample universe.
Sample Size
Approximately
200,000 establishments selected from a universe of about 790,000 in-scope
establishments. |
Approximately
100,000 establishments selected from a universe of about 770,000 in-scope
establishments. |
Approximately
50,000 establishments selected from a universe of about 760,000 in-scope
establishments. |
Approximately
100,000 establishments selected from a universe of about 754,000 in-scope
establishments. |
Survey Methodology
Respondents
reported key characteristics for each shipment from a sample of their
individual outbound shipments during a 2-week period in each of the four
calendar quarters of the reference year. |
Respondents
reported key characteristics for each shipment from a sample of their
individual outbound shipments during a 1-week period in each of the four
calendar quarters of the reference year.. |
Reported Mode
of Transportation
For-hire
truck |
For-hire
truck |
Private
truck |
Private
truck |
Rail |
Rail |
Air |
Air |
Inland
Water |
Shallow
draft vessel |
Deep Sea Water |
Deep draft
vessel |
Pipeline |
Pipeline |
Parcel,
U.S. Postal Service, or courier |
Parcel,
U.S. Postal Service, or courier |
Other |
Other |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Data Items Requested for Each Reported
Shipment
Total value |
Total value |
Total value |
Total weight |
Total weight |
Total weight |
Standard Transportation Commodity Code (STCC) of the Commodity that contributed the most to the
shipment's weight |
Standard Classification of
Transported Goods (SCTG) code of the Commodity that contributed the most to
the shipment's weight |
Standard Classification of
Transported Goods (SCTG) code of the Commodity that contributed the most to
the shipment's weight |
All known modes of transportation |
All known modes of transportation |
All known modes of transportation |
Single origin (assumed to be the
mailing address unless the respondent provided a different physical location
address) |
Single origin (assumed to be the
mailing address unless the respondent provided a different physical location
address) |
Single origin (assumed to be the
mailing address unless the respondent provided a different physical location
address) |
Destination |
Destination |
Destination |
Containerized
(Y/N) |
Containerized
(Y/N) |
-- |
-- |
-- |
Intermodal
(Y/N) (2007 only) |
Hazardous
material (Y/N) |
United Nations (UN) or North
American (NA) number for hazmat shipments |
United Nations (UN) or North
American (NA) number for hazmat shipments |
Export (Y/N) |
Export (Y/N) |
Export (Y/N) |
If export:
U.S. exit gateway, mode(s) of transport
to the gateway, foreign city and country of destination; and mode(s) of
export. |
If export:
U.S. exit gateway, mode(s) of transport
to the gateway, foreign city and country of destination; and mode(s) of
export. |
If export:
U.S. exit gateway, mode(s) of transport
to the gateway, foreign city and country of destination; and mode(s) of
export. |
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