Appendix D - Standard Classification of Transported Goods Code Information

The commodities shown in this report are classified using the Standard Classification of Transported Goods (SCTG) coding system. The SCTG coding system was created jointly by agencies of the United States and Canadian governments based on the Harmonized System of product classification that is used worldwide. The purpose of the SCTG coding system was to specifically address statistical needs in regard to products transported.

In 1993, Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) data were collected and reported using product classifications found in the Standard Transportation Commodity Classification (STCC) system. These classifications were developed in the early 1960s by the American Association of Railroads (AAR) to analyze commodity movements by rail. The original purpose of the STCC was for identification of commodities for purposes of assigning rates for Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) regulated rail carriers. The STCC continues to be used by the AAR as a tariff mechanism.

At the time that the Commodity Transportation Survey (CTS) (the CTS--the predecessor of the CFS) was first conducted in 1963, STCC codes were still useful for analyzing most important aspects of the U.S. transportation system. Since then, many changes have taken place that have gradually made the STCC code less useful for tracking domestic product movements across all modes (although it remains perfectly functional for tracking rail-only movements). These include the deregulation of trucking, the enactment of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), changes in logistics practices, the emergence of plastics and composite materials to replace metals and glass, the obsolescence of many categories of wood products, and the very rapid recent development of high-tech electronic goods. Because the CFS is a shipper survey, the CFS collects information about shipments moving on all modes. As a consequence, STCC classifications frequently provide inadequate detail for identifying products that are significant for modes, such as truck and air. It is for these reasons that the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) has sponsored the development of a new product code to collect and report CFS data.

In 1997 and 2002, the CFS provided respondents with a listing of SCTG codes and descriptions at the five-digit level to use in assigning a commodity code for each shipment. For shipments of more than one commodity, we instructed respondents to use the five-digit code for the major commodity, defined as the commodity of greatest total weight in the shipment. For the data presented on this report, we aggregated the SCTG codes to the two-digit level.