How TRANSEARCH Uses the CFS

摘要

TRANSEARCH is a proprietary nationwide database of freight traffic flows that provides coverage of highway, rail, air, water, and intermodal activity. The database has many conceptual similarities with the Commodity Flow Survey (CFS), but has been produced on an annual basis for the last 20 years. TRANSEARCH does, however, utilize several discrete inputs from the CFS. This presentation explores how and why specific elements of the CFS are used: 1. Commodity $/ton values, 2. For-hire/private trucking mode share split, 3. Selected origin-to-destination (O-D) truck flow volumes, 4. Truck length-of-haul profiles, and 5. Identification of commodities moving via air mode. In addition, much of the CFS information is reviewed and used in the annual TRANSEARCH development quality control process. A more general discussion will outline why additional information from the CFS is not integrated into TRANSEARCH, and a brief discussion of the background and history of the proprietary database is also included.