Terms | Glossary |
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Air | Air service for shipments that typically weigh more than 100 pounds using commercial or private aircraft. Includes air freight and air express. ( Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) ) |
Average Miles Per Shipment | The 1993 CFS excluded shipments of STCC 27, Printed Matter, from calculation of average miles per shipment. This was done after determining that respondents in the 1993 CFS shipping newspapers, magazines, catalogs, etc., had used widely varying definitions of the term shipment. In the 1997 CFS, numerous efforts were made during data collection and editing to produce consistent results from establishments shipping SCTG 29, Printed Products. As a result, average miles per shipment for printed products is included in calculations for the 1997 CFS. ( Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) ) |
Commodity | Products that an establishment produces, sells, or distributes. This does not include items that are considered as excess or byproducts of the establishment's operation. For the Commodity Flow Survey, respondents reported the description and the five-digit Standard Classification of Transported Goods (SCTG) code for the major commodity contained in the shipment, defined as the commodity with the greatest weight in the total shipment. ( Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) ) |
Deep Draft Vessel | A barge, ship, or ferry operating primarily in the open ocean. (Shipping on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway is classified with shallow draft vessels.) ( Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) ) |
Distance Shipped | The distance between origin and destination for a shipment. For the distance shipped intervals table, the distance is calculated based on the great circle distance between the origin and destination ZIP Code centroids. All other distance-related data (i.e., ton-miles and average miles per shipment) are based on the mileage calculations produced by Oak Ridge National Laboratories. ( Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) ) |
For-Hire Truck | Trucks that carry freight for a fee collected from the shipper, recipient of the shipment, or an arranger of the transportation. ( Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) ) |
Great Circle Distance | The shortest distance between two points on the earth's surface. ( Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) ) |
Great Lakes | A single mode specially created in ORNL's transportation network for the Commodity Flow Survey for mileage calculations which involve transportation via the Great Lakes between the origin and destination ZIP Codes (see the Mileage Calculations section for more details). ( Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) ) |
Mode Of Transportation | The type of transportation used for moving a shipment to its domestic destination. For exports, the domestic destination is the port of exit. ( Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) ) |
Multiple Modes | Parcel, U.S. Postal Service or courier shipments or shipments for which two or more of the following modes of transportation were used: private truck, for-hire truck, rail, shallow draft vessel, deep draft vessel, or pipeline. ( Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) ) |
Other And Unknown Modes | Shipments for which modes were not reported, or were reported by the respondent as Other or Unknown. ( Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) ) |
Other Multiple Modes | Shipments using any other mode combinations not specifically listed in the Commodity Flow Survey tables. ( Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) ) |
Parcel Delivery/Courier/U.S. Postal Service | Delivery services, parcels, packages, and other small shipments that typically weigh less than 100 pounds. Includes bus parcel delivery service. ( Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) ) |
Pipeline | Movements of oil, petroleum, gas, slurry, etc., through pipelines that extend to other establishments or locations beyond the shipper's establishment. Aqueducts for the movement of water are not included. ( Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) ) |
Private Truck | Trucks operated by a temporary or permanent employee of an establishment or the buyer/receiver of the shipment. ( Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) ) |
Railroad | Includes common carriers (for-hire carriers that hold themselves out to serve the general public at reasonable rates and without discrimination) and private railroads (carriers not open to the public at large). ( Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) ) |
Shallow Draft Vessels | Barges, ships, or ferries operating primarily on rivers and canals; in harbors, the Great Lakes, the Saint Lawrence Seaway; the Intracoastal Waterway, the Inside Passage to Alaska, major bays and inlets; or in the ocean close to the shoreline. ( Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) ) |
Shipment | An individual movement of commodities from an establishment to a customer or to another location of the originating company (including a warehouse, distribution center, retail or wholesale outlet). A shipment uses one or more modes of transportation including parcel delivery, U.S. Postal Service, courier, private truck, for-hire truck, rail, water, pipeline, air, and other modes. ( Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) ) |
Standard Classification Of Transported Goods | A commodity coding system developed jointly by agencies of the United States and Canadian governments based on the Harmonized System to address statistical needs in regard to products transported. (acronym SCTG) ( Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) ) |
Ton Mile | The weight times the mileage for a shipment. The respondents reported shipment weight in pounds, and mileage was calculated as the distance between the shipment origin and destination ZIP Codes. For shipments by truck, rail, or shallow draft vessels, the mileage excludes international segments. Aggregated pound-miles were converted to ton-miles (based on short tons). The ton-miles data are displayed in millions. ( Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) ) |
Tons Shipped | The total weight of an entire shipment. Respondents reported the weight in pounds. Aggregated pounds were converted to short-tons (2,000 pounds). The tons data are displayed in thousands. ( Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) ) |
Total Modal Activity | The overall activity (e.g., ton-miles) of a specific mode of transportation, whether used in a single-mode shipment, or as part of a multiple-mode shipment. For example, the total modal activity for private truck is the total ton-miles carried by private truck in single-mode shipments, combined with the total ton-miles carried by private truck in all multiple-mode shipments that include private truck (private truck and for-hire truck, private truck and rail, private truck and air, etc.) ( Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) ) |
Truck | Shipments using for-hire truck only, private truck only, or a combination of for-hire truck and private truck. ( Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) ) |
Value Of Shipment | The dollar value of the entire shipment. This is defined as the net selling value, f.o.b. plant, exclusive of freight charges, and excise taxes. The value data are displayed in millions of dollars. ( Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) ) |
Water | Shipments using shallow draft vessel only, deep draft vessel only, or Great Lakes vessel only. Combinations of these modes, such as shallow draft vessel and Great Lakes vessel are included as Other multiple modes. ( Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) ) |