The 2012 Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) is a joint effort by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce. The survey is the primary source of national and state-level data on domestic freight shipments by establishments in mining, manufacturing, whole sale auxiliaries, and selected retail and services trade industries, located in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The survey produces estimates on the type, origin and destination, value, weight, modes of transportation, distance shipped, and ton-miles of commodities shipped.
2012 Commodity Flow Survey data and additional information can be found at: https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/commodity-flow-survey
The main conclusions drawn from the exploration of the Commodity Flow Survey dataset are:
- The shipments with the most weight and value tend to be in the agriculture, transportation, and energy industries.
- The heaviest shipments are transported mainly by rail, while the average shipments are transported mainly by road.
- Air, water, and rail are the modes of transit used for the longest shipment distances.
- For-hire and Private Truck have the highest percentages of shipments up to about 1,000 miles. Parcel, USPS, or courier has the highest percentage of shipments greater than 1,000 miles.
- Parcel, USPS, or Courier has the highest percentage of shipments up to about 70 pounds, and then falls precipitously to practically none of the shipments. For-Hire Truck and Private Truck have the highest percentage of shipments that weigh greater than 70 pounds.
- ggplot2
- GGally
- dplyr