Export Shipments, by Export Mode of Transportation, Country of Destination, and Major Commodity Group statistics


	Value		Tons
Item
	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
	(mil. dol.)		(1,000)

MODE

Mode, total	577,802	100.0	526,233	100.0

Truck	111,942	19.4	57,838	11.0
For-hire truck	99,783	17.3	41,798	7.9
Private truck	12,159	2.1	16,040	3.0

Rail	22,878	4.0	36,849	7.0

Water	163,490	28.3	349,206	66.4
Shallow draft vessel	4,909	0.8	20,925	4.0
Deep draft vessel	158,581	27.4	328,281	62.4

Air (includes truck and air)	196,706	34.0	4,419	0.8
Pipeline	(S)	(S)	(S)	(S)
Parcel, U.S. Postal Service or courier	17,550	3.0	2,033	0.4

Other and unknown	64,299	11.1	71,411	13.6

COUNTRY OF DESTINATION

Total	577,802	100.0	526,233	100.0

Canada	112,683	19.5	99,073	18.8
Mexico	54,272	9.4	36,869	7.0
All others	410,847	71.1	390,291	74.2

COMMODITY

All commodities	577,802	100.0	526,233	100.0

Agricultural products and fish	46,808	8.1	179,342	34.1
Grains, alcohol, and tobacco products	12,211	2.1	15,705	3.0
Stone, nonmetallic minerals, and
metallic ores	3,471	0.6	17,198	3.3
Coal and petroleum products	43,413	7.5	144,243	27.4
Pharmaceutical and chemical products	45,286	7.8	24,837	4.7
Wood products, and textiles and leather	42,560	7.4	78,684	15.0

Base metal and machinery	83,363	14.4	25,406	4.8
Electronics, motorized vehicles, and
precision instruments	260,327	45.1	13,454	2.6
Furniture and miscellaneous manu-
factured products	35,030	6.1	26,118	5.0
Commodity unknown	5,332	0.9	1,246	0.2

1 Based on the Standard Classification of Transported Goods (SCTG) coding system.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 1997 Economic Census, Commodity Flow Survey, Exports, Series EC97TCF-US(EXP).

http://www.census.gov/econ/www/cfsmain.html

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The 1997 Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) is undertaken through a partnership between the Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce, and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S. Department of Transportation. This survey produces data on the movement of goods in the United States. The data from the CFS are used by public policy analysts and for transportation planning and decision-making to assess the demand for transportation facilities and services, energy use, and safety risk and environmental concerns.

COVERAGE

The 1997 CFS covers business establishments in mining, manufacturing, wholesale trade, and selected retail industries. The survey also covers selected auxiliary establishments (e.g., warehouses) of in-scope multiunit and retail companies. The survey coverage excludes establishments classified as farms, forestry, fisheries, governments, construction, transportation, foreign establishments, services, and most establishments in retail.

CONTENT

The CFS captures data on shipments originating from selected types of business establishments located in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. We requested that the respondent provide the following information about their establishments shipments: domestic destination or port of exit, commodity, value, weight, mode(s) of transportation, the date on which the shipment was made, and an indication of whether the shipment was an export, hazardous material, or containerized. For shipments that include more than one commodity, respondents are instructed to report the commodity that makes up the greatest percentage of the shipments weight. For exports, we also ask the respondent to provide the mode of export and the foreign destination city and country. For hazardous materials shipments, we ask for the correspsonding UN/NA code.

FREQUENCY

The survey was initiated for 1993. Beginning with 1997, the survey will be conducted every 5 years for years ending in "2" and "7." Commodity surveys were conducted between 1963 and 1983, but data for 1983 were not published. No data were collected for 1987.

METHODS

The 1997 CFS consists of a sample of 100,000 establishments chosen based on geographic location and industry. Each establishment selected into the CFS sample is mailed a questionnaire for each of its four reporting weeks. For the CFS '97 each sampled establishment was asked to report on a sample of individual shipments during a one week period in each calendar quarter. In addition, about 20,000 establishments received a modified questionnaire for their final reporting period,requesting additional information on transportation facilities and equipment.

* 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.Respondents reported the description and the five-digit SCTG code for the major commodity contained in the shipment,defined as the commodity with the greatest weight in the total shipment.

Mode of transportation The type of transportation used for moving the shipment to its domestic destination. For exports,the domestic destination was the port of exit.

Mode Definitions

In the instructions to the respondent,we defined the possible modes as follows:

1.Parcel delivery/courier/U.S.Postal Service.Deliv- ery services,parcels,packages,and other small ship- ments that typically weigh less than 100 pounds. Includes bus parcel delivery service.

2.Private truck.Trucks operated by a temporary or permanent employee of an establishment or the buyer/receiver of the shipment.

3.For-hire truck.Trucks that carry freight for a fee col- lected from the shipper,recipient of the shipment,or an arranger of the transportation.

4.Railroad.Any common carrier or private railroad.

5.Shallow draft vessels.Barges,ships,or ferries oper- ating primarily on rivers and canals;in harbors,the Great Lakes,the Saint Lawrence Seaway;the Intrac- oastal Waterway,the Inside Passage to Alaska,major bays and inlets;or in the ocean close to the shoreline.

6.Deep draft vessel.Barges,ships,or ferries operat- ing primarily in the open ocean.Shipping on the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence Seaway is classified with shallow draft vessels.

7.Pipeline.Movements of oil,petroleum,gas,slurry, etc.,through pipelines that extend to other establish- ments or locations beyond the shipper s establish- ment.Aqueducts for the movement of water are not included.

8.Air.Commercial or private aircraft,and all air service for shipments that typically weigh more than 100 pounds.Includes air freight and air express.

9.Other mode.Any mode not listed above.

10.Unknown.The shipment was not carried by a parcel delivery/courier/U.S.Postal Service,and the respon- dent could not determine what mode of transportation was used.

Shipment

A shipment (or delivery)is an individual move- ment of commodities from an establishment to a customer or to another location of the originating company (includ- ing a warehouse,distribution center,retail or wholesale outlet).A shipment uses one or more modes of transporta- tion including parcel delivery,U.S.Postal Service,courier, private truck,for-hire truck,rail,water,pipeline,air,and other modes.

Standard Classification of Transported Goods (SCTG).

The commodities shown in this report are classi- fied using the SCTG coding system.The SCTG coding sys- tem was developed jointly by agencies of the United States and Canadian governments based on the Harmo- nized System to address statistical needs in regard to products transported.

Ton-miles

The weight times the mileage for a shipment. The respondents reported shipment weight in pounds,as described below.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.For example, mileages from Alaska to the continental United States exclude any mileages through Canada (see the Mileage Calculations section for more details).Aggregated pound- miles were converted to ton-miles.The ton-miles data are displayed in millions.

Ton shipped

The total weight of the 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.

Value of shipments

The dollar value of the entire ship- ment.This was 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.

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http://www.allcountries.org/uscensus/1330_export_shipments_by_export_mode_of.html

These tables are based on figures supplied by the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce and are subject to revision by the Census Bureau.

Copyright © 2006 Photius Coutsoukis and Information Technology Associates, all rights reserved.