Office of Operations Freight Management and Operations

Report #5 (R5)
Methodology for FAF Regionalization of Out-of-Scope Truck Commodity Flows

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1. Introduction

The Freight Analysis Framework (FAF) program is developing a consistent base year 2002 set of inter-regional commodity flows. The FAF three-dimensional matrix (by commodity, region, and transportation mode) of freight flows establishes a primary base for the analysis of all freight shipments. The core component of the FAF is the Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) supplemented by other data sources. CFS, however, does not include traffic flows originating for several "Out-of-Scope" business sectors. Specifically, truck traffic for Farm based, Fisheries, Logging, Construction, Services, Publishing, Retail and Household and Business Moves, totaling 263 trillion ton miles (Table 1) were not sampled. National freight flows for these out-of-scope businesses, which were estimated as part of the FAF program are shown in Table 1. This paper presents an approach to develop FAF region-to- FAF region commodity flows consistent with the national estimates.

Table 1. National Estimate of Truck Shipments of Out-of-Scope Economic Activities
Value
($ millions)
Tons
(thousands)
Ton Miles
(millions)
Average shipping distance (miles)
Farm based200,6461,051,28540,22238.26
Fisheries3,1814,71425954.94
Logging7,871350,19116,27146.46
Construction924,974591,44962,003104.83
Services284,601277,41330,500109.94
Publishing98,65732,33013,945431.33
Retail1,408,2361,050,27794,41189.89
Household and Business Moves12,73921,2045,563262.36
Total2,940,9053,378,863263,174142
Source: “Out-of-Scope” reports developed for FAF by Macrosys and ORNL.

In order to generate an expedient and reasonable regionalization of out-of scope commodity flows, one needs to reflect the relative regional differences in economic activity that generate the truck commodity flows using readily and openly available data on state and local economic activity. The regionalization of national truck freight flows followed here is a three step process defining, (1) the allocation of the national freight estimates to the county in which the freight generation occurs, (2) the estimation of county-to-county freight flows for each commodity shipped in the out-of scope business sectors, and (3) then the aggregation of the county-to-county flows to regional commodity flows used in the FAF matrix.

This paper outlines the approach used for the regionalization to FAF regions of national estimates of out-of-scope commodity flows by first generating county-to-county information. Two features of the FAF region-to-region spatial context indicate a county-to-county analysis as a necessary intermediate step in developing the FAF region commodity flows. First the freight analysis flows to be regionalized appear to be relatively short local hauls with an average distance of under 100 miles. Key flows of interest are the FAF-to-FAF region flows, which include urban areas flows to the rest-of-state (regions). However, there are many instances where several urban areas interact with the same “rest-of-state” area, in which the region-to-region distance are defined by the centroid of a relatively large rest of state region. To estimate the interregional flows of such local movements, it is useful to have more spatial discrimination, as in a county-to-county matrix to capture the movements within and around the urban metroplex represented by the short haul out-of-scope activities. The county-to-county flows can then be aggregated to the desired FAF regional scale.

2. Procedure

2.1 Regional Economic Freight Generation

The national estimates are allocated to the county based on local traffic generating activity, but taking into account State variations in truck usage by the business sector as identified in the Vehicle Inventory and Use Survey (VIUS). The VIUS provide annual freight truck miles generated by major business sectors in each State as well as providing commodity (two-digit SCTG code) totals for the state for the year 2002. The approach is to allocate the national total of out-of-scope fright by each commodity and business to the states based on the states share of national activity as depicted in VIUS. The estimate for each state is then allocated to the counties within the state based on an appropriate measure of the economic activity that generates the freight activity. The county weight will typically be based on the 2002 County Business Patterns. This two-step process can be implemented as a single allocation using a set of allocations coefficients (i.e., a nation to state and a state to county coefficients). For a specific commodity carried by an out-of scope business sector the allocation can be represented as:

Equation 1:
Truck Tonnage Originating in County I for the business sector=
(State's share of national truck miles for the business sector) X
(County's share of state's earnings for the business sector) X
(National tonnage estimate for the business sector)

Depending on the state and county data available for allocation four different strategies are considered. The first strategy (focusing on the business sector) used for the Construction, Services and Retail trade sectors, uses the business sector information on truck freight mileage from VIUS. Although in each business sector a variety of commodities are shipped and need to be regionalized, the freight generation activity and market area in which the freight movements take place is similar and thus the same allocation strategy would be reasonable to regionalize each commodity carried by the business sector. Thus the same share coefficient will be used for all commodities carried by a specific business for this first strategy. The coefficient is the truck mileage carried by the business sector in the state as compared to the national total. In this strategy the state estimate is then allocated to the counties in the state using an allocation weight reflecting the business sectors local activity as reflected by employment or earnings in the County Business Patterns employment or earnings. (The candidate allocation-variables for this case, “VIUS Sector” is presented in the first set of rows of Table 2.)

The second strategy focuses on commodity characterization for the three farmed-based commodities and logging. In these situations the commodity mix of the appropriate aggregate business sector may vary considerably from state to state and a more refined focus is required. For both the farmed based activities and logging, additional information in VIUS on commodities carried within each state can be used to assist in the regionalization rather than the more aggregate business sector information. In addition county commodity production data (Census of Agriculture and county round wood production from the National Forest Service) is available to better characterize the sub-state regionalization as well. The candidate variables for the regionalization of this set of sectors, “VIUS commodities” is presented in Table 2.

The third strategy involves Fisheries and Printing both of which are special cases. Fisheries are part of the farm based business sector and Live Fish as a commodity is part of the SCTG 01 (Live animals and live fish). Both the sector and the commodity are a small part of the total, and the importance in the sector may very greatly from one state to another. Consequently, it seems more reasonable to develop a set of allocation variable that are more tightly related to the regional level of activity in the sector. The case for printing is similar in that the appropriate sector (information) is too broad to capture the nature of the printed material considered in the truck shipments. Moreover, the data coverage on State level truck shipments of the commodity printed materials in VIUS is very limited (less than 20% - Table 5). In this case the County Business Patterns (CBP) information on employment or earnings appears as a reasonable proxy for both the state and county level regionalization. The candidate variable for regionalization of this set of sectors (Other) is presented in the third set of Table 2.

A fourth strategy focuses on the Household and Business sector. It uses Census information on county-to-county migration during the period 1990 to 2000 to identify relative regional growth and decline upon which to allocate the national flows.

Table 2. Candidate Variables for National to State and State to County Allocations
Type of Allocation Business Sector Commodity State Allocation State to County Allocation
1. VIUS SectorConstructionAllVIUS Sector ActivityCBP Sector Employment
1. VIUS SectorServicesAllVIUS Sector ActivityCBP Sector Employment
1. VIUS SectorRetailAllVIUS Sector ActivityCBP Sector Employment
2. VIUS CommodityFarm BasedAnimalsVIUS CommodityValue in Farm Sales (USDA)
2. VIUS CommodityFarm BasedCerealVIUS CommodityValue in Farm Sales (USDA)
2. VIUS CommodityFarm BasedOther AgricultureVIUS CommodityValue in Farm Sales (USDA)
2. VIUS CommodityLoggingLogs and Other WoodVIUS CommodityRound Wood Production (NFS)
3. OtherPrintingPrinted MaterialsCBP Industry EmploymentCBP Industry Employment
3. OtherFisheriesLive FishCBP Industry EmploymentCBP Industry Employment
3. OtherHousehold movesnoneCounty-to-county migration

Inspection of the VIUS data, however, indicates that some data manipulation will be required to develop the required allocation coefficients.

For the first set of allocation—the VIUS Business Sectors—some missing values for individual states needed to be estimated. Table 3 provides the VIUS data on truck-miles by business sector. Initially, it was proposed to estimate values for the missing state entries for a specific business sector by allocating the residual for that business sector (i.e., the U.S. total minus the sum of the available data) to the states with missing elements in proportion to the state share of all activity for the states considered with missing values. However, after review of the data it was clear that the state totals are not necessarily the sum of the elements. As an alternative, the sector share of the national amount of truck miles was applied to the state total to estimate any of the missing values.

Although this was not a large effort for the three sectors listed in Table 3, developing the service sector series was a bit more complex as not only do missing values need to be estimated but several VIUS business sectors need to be combined into a service sector total as used in the out-of-scope activities. The available state level VIUS data for the service sector components is presented in Table 4.

Table 3. State Truck-Miles by Selected Business Sectors: 2002
State Total Agriculture Construction Retail Trade
United States1,114,728.0020,024.8075,906.2027,470.50
Alabama24,606.7857.7800.5884.7
Alaska2,542.20s115.9053.80
Arkansas13,176.50538.601,096.30405.40
Arizona20,204.8049.401,531.70582.40
California111,971.901,692.209,295.301,854.00
Colorado19,748.70251.802,238.50510.90
Connecticut9,568.3046.20744.50197.30
District of Columbia462.200.4018.800.80
Delaware2,921.7056.10174.30132.60
Florida56,606.30795.205,248.501,389.40
Georgia34,019.50603.702,377.80483.30
Hawaii3,467.9067.00266.80S 85.46
Iowa12,347.101,030.30661.70266.90
Idaho8,071.90765.70662.30270.90
Illinois48,603.40833.9029,969.201,207.00
Indiana29,211.80452.601,267.20620.00
Kansas13,236.60711.60698.70830.90
Kentucky15,783.00223.701,110.40320.10
Louisiana18,442.50653.001,003.30251.00
Massachusetts20,161.50214.901,910.40519.50
Maryland16,809.8094.901,410.00110.30
Maine4,645.70196.10303.90168.90
Michigan51,806.90635.104,111.10634.00
Minnesota23,058.70681.002,212.60415.00
Missouri24,254.501,152.901,658.70415.90
Mississippi9,274.60274.50537.40244.50
Montana4,465.60286.90302.60143.30
North Carolina34,990.80745.502,978.301,085.50
North Dakota4,743.50552.40346.70124.10
Nebraska9,693.10646.20604.10192.20
New Hampshire4,908.9055.60243.50107.70
New Jersey27,655.00122.401,576.70452.20
New Mexico9,202.70175.10735.20332.40
Nevada7,198.00s436.00180.60
New York42,093.20402.001,909.501,084.00
Ohio45,649.00645.703,259.40607.40
Oklahoma35,154.401,167.30826.703,401.40
Oregon15,749.30475.70777.30353.20
Pennsylvania34,345.90336.902,425.501,109.70
Rhode Island2,701.5016.00164.4053.20
South Carolina16,950.30450.701,114.20506.60
South Dakota4,246.40371.70236.80215.80
Tennessee29,436.90452.002,243.40309.10
Texas96,175.801,958.605,107.901,984.00
Utah10,066.10188.90480.00352.50
Virginia24,983.70332.301,996.40315.30
Vermont3,270.4069.30267.50116.00
Washington20,023.70589.501,054.00545.00
Wisconsin25,558.20848.901,896.30876.20
West Virginia7,609.70118.30326.20128.90
Wyoming2,927.80204.40170.6055.80
Key: s=estimate does not meet publication standards because of high sampling variability or poor response quality.
Table 4. State Truck-mile by Components of the Service Sector: 2002
State Total all business Sectors Information Waste, Management Arts Accommodations Other services Total all services
United States1,114,728.005,622.0010,709.301,784.105,816.3035,776.2059,707.90
Alabama24,606.7s124.0s172.1832.8
Alaska2,542.20ssss42.00
Arkansas13,176.50s182.00s529.40
Arizona20,204.80s178.308.20s967.40
California111,971.90s1,427.50s144.703,265.50
Colorado19,748.70110.40ss489.10
Connecticut9,568.30s113.20s22.50446.70
District of Columbia462.207.80s8.70s36.10
Delaware2,921.70s29.40s24.60107.00
Florida56,606.30s854.009.20527.801,982.50
Georgia34,019.50s511.60s50.30908.30
Hawaii3,467.90ssss122.20
Iowa12,347.10s76.90s33.60519.90
Idaho8,071.90s41.805.5040.60458.50
Illinois48,603.40s236.90s123.201,734.60
Indiana29,211.80s337.40s42.70436.70
Kansas13,236.60s61.90s38.50429.40
Kentucky15,783.00s73.40ss505.50
Louisiana18,442.50s68.70sss
Massachusetts20,161.50s321.106.5084.101,106.50
Maryland16,809.80159.30149.003.7068.10666.40
Maine4,645.70s54.30ss252.80
Michigan51,806.9013.50267.10s44.901,698.70
Minnesota23,058.70ssss445.40
Missouri24,254.50s152.80ss1,073.70
Mississippi9,274.608.0015.40s14.8062.70
Montana4,465.60s14.30ss130.90
North Carolina34,990.80s390.60ss1,111.00
North Dakota4,743.50s38.20s9.4055.60
Nebraska9,693.10s65.40s54.40110.90
New Hampshire4,908.901.6061.10s5.30139.90
New Jersey27,655.00128.00461.70ss534.10
New Mexico9,202.70s20.40ss338.10
Nevada7,198.00sss8.00363.00
New York42,093.20s497.20ss1,437.80
Ohio45,649.00s297.50ss902.50
Oklahoma35,154.40s224.40s461.80891.10
Oregon15,749.30ssss531.00
Pennsylvania34,345.90s429.70ss665.20
Rhode Island2,701.50s40.40ss82.40
South Carolina16,950.305.10109.10ss556.00
South Dakota4,246.40s19.90s7.70144.80
Tennessee29,436.90s641.10s63.001,416.10
Texas96,175.80sss846.404,611.10
Utah10,066.10s19.10s67.10214.00
Virginia24,983.70s364.50ss996.70
Vermont3,270.40s47.900.8035.3055.60
Washington20,023.70s107.50ss372.20
Wisconsin25,558.20s220.00s47.00638.80
West Virginia7,609.707.8056.40s10.00132.20
Wyoming2,927.80s5.30ss37.70
Key: s=Estimate does not meet publication standards because of high sampling variability or poor response quality.
Source: VIUS

The data for the state allocations by commodity carried as presented in VIUS also has estimated values for missing values in order to provide state share coefficients. The same procedure of applying the national sector share to the state total to estimate the missing values was used here as well.

Table 5. Commodity Shipments in Each State
Farm Based
01 animals
Farm Based
02 cereal
Farm Based
03 other agriculture
Logging
25 logs
Publishing
29 printed
United States2,446.101,789.504,094.501,649.203,680.60
Alabama16.914.874.6105.585.5
Alaskass2.001.60s
Arkansas27.6016.1051.303.50s
Arizonas1.6030.80ss
Californias44.00321.20129.30s
Colorados6.0030.805.90s
Connecticutss21.20ss
District of Columbiavvsss
Delaware5.203.50s2.301.20
Floridass172.1044.80s
Georgiass47.60ss
Hawaii0.700.1019.200.30s
Iowa50.50108.3046.10ss
Idaho73.6083.30116.8040.80s
Illinoiss128.10102.6020.30127.80
Indiana25.2056.80137.4019.10s
Kansas82.60107.8050.004.80s
Kentucky21.4018.7020.6032.90s
Louisianas11.0025.5050.00s
Massachusettssss10.4050.90
Maryland5.703.0074.80s10.60
Maines1.00s23.50s
Michigansssss
Minnesotas95.5085.8050.50147.60
Missouris87.90177.5017.7026.90
Mississippis17.90s29.800.50
Montana24.3019.204.4013.00s
North Carolina46.2020.50179.8089.4022.90
North Dakota11.2089.4045.00s45.40
Nebraska155.80166.6099.50ss
New Hampshire0.60ss9.101.80
New Jerseyss151.1014.50s
New Mexicos9.706.302.70s
Nevadas1.40s0.40s
New Yorks8.70163.1044.8017.20
Ohioss143.7049.80128.40
Oklahoma211.00170.40366.8030.7084.10
Oregons14.2040.6015.10s
Pennsylvanias6.3049.50ss
Rhode Island1.50s11.001.10s
South Carolinas19.6045.4045.00s
South Dakota52.3057.6030.006.00s
Tennesseess52.5031.40s
Texas43.7049.20227.10s22.10
Utah63.4016.2055.309.0010.20
Virginia9.1010.0072.2042.80s
Vermont0.802.80s14.70s
Washington5.7018.80s54.80s
Wisconsin92.2058.9091.7076.50s
West Virginia12.70ss39.307.00
Wyoming21.904.6014.205.20s
% National Total Value Assigned to States43%86%83%66%20%
Key: v=represents an estimate of less than 50 vehicles, 50,000 miles, or 0.05%; s=estimate does not meet publication standards because of high sampling variability or poor response quality.

After filling the missing values as described above, a set of state level share coefficients were developed from the VIUS (and other) data sources. Using the 2002 County Business Patterns (CBP) state and county data, a data set of county market share coefficients were then developed. In the case of missing values for the CBP data, the facility size distribution in the CBP data was used to estimate missing values adequately for the current tasks. With the national estimates, the state and county allocation coefficients organized in a Standard Query Language (SQL) format (using Microsoft Visual FoxPro) it is a simple matter to generate (estimate) a table of freight truck flows for each county, business sector and commodity combination of interest.

2.2 Estimation of Local Market Commodity Flows

The second step is to expand the freight generation at county origin to the destination flow. As discussed in the introduction, the out-of-scope truck traffic examined here, appear to reflect short haul movements that are likely to remain within the local market area. With this view, we defined a reasonable market area for each origin, business sector, and commodity and then estimate the Market Potential. We then allocated the total freight to each of the flows in the market in proportion that the flows contribution to the total market potential. As an expedient, we selected a proxy variable that we expect is proportionate to the market metric. Table 6 augments Table 2, by adding a candidate economic activity variable for each of the Business Sectors in the Out-of-Scope activities to be allocated to local commodity flows.

Table 6. Candidate Variables for National to State and State to County Allocations
Type of Allocation Business Sector Commodity State Allocation State to County Allocation Market Potential
1. VIUS SectorConstructionAllVIUS Sector ActivityCBP Sector Employment CBP Sector Employment
1. VIUS SectorServicesAllVIUS Sector ActivityCBP Sector EmploymentCBP Sector Employment
1. VIUS SectorRetailAllVIUS Sector ActivityCBP Sector EmploymentPopulation
2. VIUS CommodityFarm BasedAnimalsVIUS CommodityValue in Farm Sales (USDA)CBP Animal Slaughtering and processing Employment
2. VIUS CommodityFarm BasedCerealVIUS CommodityValue in Farm Sales (USDA)CBP Grain and Oil Seed milling Employment
2. VIUS CommodityFarm BasedOther AgricultureVIUS CommodityValue in Farm Sales (USDA)CBP Food Manufacturing Employment
2. VIUS CommodityLoggingLogs and Other WoodVIUS CommodityRound Wood Production (NFS)CBP Wood Products Employment
3. OtherPrintingPrinted MaterialsCBP Industry EmploymentCBP Industry EmploymentPopulation
3. OtherFisheriesLive FishCBP Industry EmploymentCBP Industry EmploymentCBP Seafood Products Employment

For each origin activity to be allocated, all destinations with 350 hundred miles (over twice the typical average distance – see table 7)1-will be considered. The value of each destinations market potential (candidate variable) discounted by a distance (using a specified lambda value) was summed to determine the Total Market Potential for that decay value. Each flow was then allocated a proportionate share of the generated freight based on its contribution to the market potential.

Flow (i,j) = ([P(j)/d(i,j)λ]÷ Σ[(P(j)/d(i,j)λ)])X F(i)

Where: F(i) is Freight at origin I to be allocated.
P(j) is the market potential at destination j
[ P(j)/d(i,j)λ] is the contribution to the total market potential for i derived the interaction with j. (lambda (λ) is the distance decay coefficient for the potential model).
Σ[(P(j)/d(i,j)λ)]) is the total market potential at i from all potential; destinations.

Flow(i,j) is the (allocated) proportionate share of the freight activity assigned between i and j.

The importance of distance (lambda) in the above equation is directly related to the average mile shipped estimation that characterizes the market area. The larger the value of lambda, the more resistance from distance and the smaller the market radius and average distance shipped. It is typical to use a Spatial Interaction Model for determining the lambda and spatial flows consistent with an average distance shipped. The flows are organized as a large matrix and then through iterative computations using various Lambdas, the value that brings about the target average flow is determined. This approach is difficult in the FoxPro environment. As an expedient, a two step procedure was adopted. First a set of lambdas covering the typical range was selected (0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0) and market calculations were done for each of the lambda values. Then in the second stage, the results were visually examined and the county flows set whose market potential data generated the average distance that was closest to the target national values for that business sector was chosen as the appropriate lambda value for that business sector. The sector lambda was then used to select the associated set of flows for all commodities considered for the business sector.

As the general market of interest is for the shipments for the business sector, we tuned to a single lambda for each business sector. The exception was farm based activity, because of the potentially very different regional patterns of market area for the different commodities in the sector. We also used different variables to determine the market areas, where as in the other sectors the same variable was used to determine the market area for all commodities. The target “national” average shipping distance reflected of the FAF National Estimates of the Out-of-Scope Activities as presented in Table 7. Also, one can observe that the shipment distances for the various commodities within any given business sectors are similar, hence reinforcing the choice of one lambda (distance decay) for local markets of each business sector.

Table 7. National Estimates by Sector and Commodity with Average Distance Shipped
Business Sector Commodities Value Tons Ton miles Average distance shipped
Farm BasedAll Commodities$200,6461,051,28540,22238.26
Farm Based01Live animals and live fish$105,49490,9295,04755.50
Farm Based02Cereal grains$39,958795,38228,39535.70
Farm Based03Other agricultural products$55,194164,9746,78041.10
Fisheries01Live animals and live fish $3,1814,71725954.91
Logging25Logs and other wood in the rough $7,871 350,1911627146.46
ConstructionAll Commodities$924,974591,44962,003104.83
Construction01Live animals and live fish$13111100.00
Construction02Cereal grains$2193175.48
Construction03Other agricultural products$1,0411,426143100.01
Construction04Animal feed and products of animal origin, n.e.c.$5212100.00
Construction05Meat, fish, seafood, and their preparations$89354100.00
Construction07Other prepared foodstuffs and fats and oils$22303100.00
Construction08Alcoholic beverages$48834334100.00
Construction10Monumental or building stone$1,1065,536561101.33
Construction11Natural sands$25133,0723,339100.96
Construction12Gravel and crushed stone$797118,53412,301103.77
Construction13Nonmetallic minerals n.e.c.$67913,7571,396101.51
Construction14Metallic ores and concentrates$2,7271,226123100.00
Construction15Coal$401,927193100.00
Construction16Crude Petroleum$7042542100.00
Construction17Gasoline and aviation turbine fuel$7927928100.36
Construction18Fuel oils$8563,651404110.77
Construction19Coal and petroleum products, n.e.c.$6163,158316100.17
Construction20Basic chemicals$22697100.00
Construction22Fertilizers$147812148.79
Construction23Chemical products and preparations, n.e.c.$3,7291,914195101.80
Construction24Plastics and rubber$1,10840944107.56
Construction25Logs and other wood in the rough$6831,152121105.37
Construction26Wood products$5,7349,6791,010104.34
Construction27Pulp, newsprint, paper, and paperboard$11210110100.00
Construction28Paper or paperboard articles$79556102.26
Construction29Printed products$94220821100.00
Construction30Textiles, leather, and articles of textiles or leather$419727100.00
Construction31Nonmetallic mineral products$5,62659,2786,317106.57
Construction32Base metal in primary or semi-finished forms and in finished basic shapes$3,9334,653518111.36
Construction33Articles of base metal$56,41329,3243,076104.90
Construction34Machinery$559,66291,1689,918108.70
Construction35Electronic and other electrical equipment and components and office equipment$4,28450961120.36
Construction36Motorized and other vehicles (including parts)$24,9275,312569107.17
Construction37Transportation equipment, n.e.c.$71,27515,1891,626107.04
Construction38Precision instruments and apparatus$1499710100.00
Construction39Furniture, mattresses and mattress supports, lamps, lighting fittings, and...$3,47093498104.70
Construction40Miscellaneous manufactured products$4,8891,705174101.85
Construction41Waste and scrap$1,6329,200975105.96
ConstructionCommodity unknown$166,990176,89118,336103.654
ServicesAll Commodities284,601277,412.8330500.46109.95
Services01Live animals and live fish$167147.6916.24109.99
Services02Cereal grains$61657.055.037.65
Services03Other agricultural products$615842.54182.91217.09
Services04Animal feed and products of animal origin, n.e.c.$732.277.68237.93
Services05Meat, fish, seafood, and their preparations$14,7605,907.61871.39147.50
Services06Milled grain products and preparations, and bakery products$4,1772,854.10342.04119.84
Services07Other prepared foodstuffs and fats and oils$21,10128,346.022958.96104.39
Services08Alcoholic beverages$613430.5443.05100.00
Services09Tobacco products$4,862141.7214.17100.00
Services10Monumental or building stone$84421.5945.18107.17
Services11Natural sands$7881.5490.17102.28
Services12Gravel and crushed stone$91,288.70129.81100.73
Services13Nonmetallic minerals n.e.c.$621,252.55134.05107.02
Services14Metallic ores and concentrates$83.750.37100.00
Services16Crude Petroleum$15.130.51100.00
Services17Gasoline and aviation turbine fuel$828.932.89100.00
Services18Fuel oils$87369.4439.87107.93
Services19Coal and petroleum products, n.e.c.$96492.0749.21100.00
Services20Basic chemicals$6812,095.97209.6100.00
Services21Pharmaceutical products$3,957369.6138.26103.52
Services22Fertilizers$2421,306.82131.02100.26
Services23Chemical products and preparations, n.e.c.$2,4731,269.08129.65102.16
Services24Plastics and rubber$3,3821,247.86204.13163.58
Services25Logs and other wood in the rough$285481.1153.31110.81
Services26Wood products$1,1751,983.60208.89105.31
Services27Pulp, newsprint, paper, and paperboard$8779.257.93100.00
Services28Paper or paperboard articles$161110.9211.09100.03
Services29Printed products$34876.677.67100.00
Services30Textiles, leather, and articles of textiles or leather$14,2032,425.70245.60101.25
Services31Nonmetallic mineral products$1,35014,228.711423.37100.04
Services32Base metal in primary or semifinished forms and in finished basic shapes$9021,067.28115.08107.83
Services33Articles of base metal$17,8589,282.821239.60133.54
Services34Machinery$56,7759,248.591147.55124.08
Services35Electronic and other electrical equipment and components and office equipment$17,8772,124.87293.59138.17
Services36Motorized and other vehicles (including parts)$15,0183,200.27428.56133.91
Services37Transportation equipment, n.e.c.$937199.7419.97100.00
Services38Precision instruments and apparatus$1,204785.4978.55100.00
Services39 Furniture, mattresses and mattress supports, lamps, lighting fittings, and… $986265.3928.86108.74
Services40Miscellaneous manufactured products$4,5841,598.80218.04136.37
Services41Waste and scrap$17,67399,652.2010491.96105.29
ServicesCommodity unknown$75,72080,208.878834.64110.15
Publishing29Printed Products$144,23536,49018,277500.88
RetailAll Commodities$1,408,236.051,050,27794,41189.89
Retail01Live animals and live fish$481.5839846115.14
Retail03Other agricultural products$55,941.44111,98510,20891.16
Retail04Animal feed and products of animal origin, n.e.c.$13,197.6757,7074,73782.09
Retail05Meat, fish, seafood, and their preparations$46,782.2019,6391,85494.39
Retail06 Milled grain products and preparations, and bakery products $14,359.1013,8441,10379.70
Retail07Other prepared foodstuffs and fats and oils$65,298.2682,4447,33188.92
Retail08Alcoholic beverages$46,392.2638,0683,969104.27
Retail09Tobacco products$41,546.492,59919776.00
Retail15Coal$26.181,41910876.00
Retail16Crude Petroleum$20.351241084.33
Retail18Fuel oils$5,524.3426,1192,14682.17
Retail19Coal and petroleum products, n.e.c.$20,164.77109,9889,06882.45
Retail21Pharmaceutical products$147,763.937,48556976.00
Retail22Fertilizers$5,761.9544,7293,92787.78
Retail23Chemical products and preparations, n.e.c.$45,520.4821,2861,66378.11
Retail24Plastics and rubber$4,548.231,95519398.97
Retail26Wood products$27,309.7459,5744,96383.30
Retail27Pulp, newsprint, paper, and paperboard$39.05525100.67
Retail28Paper or paperboard articles$18,247.8112,1771,09990.23
Retail29Printed products$14,590.943,69132487.68
Retail30Textiles, leather, and articles of textiles or leather$166,140.7318,2491,80698.97
Retail31Nonmetallic mineral products$4,867.1131,4192,66784.90
Retail32 Base metal in primary or semi-finished forms and in finished basic shapes $1,857.752,346241102.55
Retail33Articles of base metal$13,033.246,47061094.36
Retail34Machinery$40,649.615,32246687.51
Retail35 Electronic and other electrical equipment and components and office equipment $117,743.426,55558789.58
Retail36Motorized and other vehicles (including parts)$1,539.342742798.56
Retail38Precision instruments and apparatus$11,289.9392199107.00
Retail39 Furniture, mattresses and mattress supports, lamps, lighting fittings, and... $42,270.549,84686487.79
Retail40Miscellaneous manufactured products$70,784.3214,4721,40396.92
Retail41Waste and scrap$9,640.8055,2654,76186.15
Retail43Mixed freight$205,415.2373,3147,06696.38
RetailCommodity unknown$149,487.29210,54420,29396.38
Key: n.e.c.=not elsewhere classified.

In most cases, at least one of the computed distance value (i.e., lambda) for each business sector was close to the target value. Table 8 shows the selected distance decay for each of the business sectors. Because the average shipping distance of publishing and household & business moves were considerably larger than the other sectors, it was assumed that these two activities had a national scope as opposed to the local (under 350 miles) use for the rest of the sectors. In the case of publications, we used the same methodology as the other sectors, except that we included all counties thus permitting long distance shipments based on the potential model. Including all counties did stress the software/hardware set we were using, and we could not run the full set of lambda's simultaneously as we did for the other sectors. As an alternative we elected to start with the less restrictive decay and then progress till we matched the target. As seen in the table, we found an approximate match at a lambda of 1.0 and proceeded no further for this sector. For the household and business moves, it was thought that the simple potential model might not capture some of the significant changes in recent regional growth that might stimulate inter-regional moves. The recent availability of the county-to-county migration flows (Census 2000) between 1990 and 2000 provide a snapshot of such recent changes. The relative county-to-county flows provide an alternative measure to a standard market potential that does reflect changing regional population growth that induces household and business movement of household goods and business equipment. The average distance of this method is approximately 485 miles somewhat higher than the national estimate but given the approximate nature of both the national values and regional allocation not too extreme to reject the approach. As time and effort warrant some alternative analysis of this sector would be of interest.

Table 8. Average Distance Calculations for Business Sectors Based on Market Potential Model
National Value Value of distance decay (lambda)
0.5
Value of distance decay (lambda)
1.0
Value of distance decay (lambda)
1.5
Value of distance decay (lambda)
2.0
Value of distance decay (lambda)
2.5
Value of distance decay (lambda)
3.0
Farm based
01-Live Animals
55.5166.7133.4103.176.055.724.2
Farm based
02-Cereal & grains
35.7160.3129.099.978.463.444.0
Farm based
03-other agr
41.1150.2116.683.157.240.530.3
Construction66.69134.299.570.149.135.527.3
Retail41.8146.2112.580.455.639.129.2
Service80.6139.7106.576.954.739.230.2
Fisheries54.9111.292.376.164.251.640.4
Logging46.4158.3127.692.861.840.627.6
Publishing1500.9920543----
Household and Business Moves2262.36484.6
Source: ORNL calculations
Notes:
1 Publishing used all counties and this required sequential runs until target reached.
2 Household and Business moves used market shares generated by migration flows rather than distance decay model.

2.3 Estimation of Local Market Commodity Flows

The step above provides commodity flow tables that have values for each of the key county-to-county freight flow characteristics: business sector, commodity, origin-county (FIPS code), destination-county (FIPS code), distance from origin to destination, tons trucked. Then for each commodity, the national value-to-tons ratio is applied to the allocated freight tons to derive the associated freight value for each of the estimated flows.

As part of the project, ORNL developed a cross walk from the FIPS county codes to the FAF region codes. Using this cross walk the county-to-county flow table is augmented with the appropriate origin FAF Region and the destination FAF Region codes. The resultant file is then aggregated to a “Matrix” table with the FAF commodity flow matrix dimensions: FAF origin, FAF destination, Business Sector, SCTG 2 digit Commodity, Truck Mode. The measures for each FAF-to-FAF truck flow include the Freight tons, Freight Value and the average ton miles for that flow.

This “out-of-scope” truck freight matrix can then easily be integrated into the full FAF Commodity Flow Matrix.

2.4 Data Sources to be Used in the Out-of-Scope Regionalization

1. U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Economic Census, Vehicle Inventory and Use Survey (VIUS), Geographic Area Series, 2004

2. U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 County Business Patterns, Census Bureau

3. U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Census of Population, County-to-County Migration Flow Files

4. U.S. Census Bureau, County population and estimated components of population change, all counties: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2004,

5. U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2002 Census of Agriculture,

6. Bureau of Economic Area, 2002 Regional Economic Information System (REIS), (county population and income).

7. National Forest Service, 2002 Round Wood Production,

8. 2002 National Estimates of Out-of-Scope Freight, Freight Analysis Framework working papers.

9. County-to-county highway distances, ORNL

10. County-to-FAF region cross walk, ORNL

1In several instances, such as printed material and household and business moves, the national out-of-scope estimates indicate a more extensive market, and for those cases a larger market radius was considered.
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