Comparability with the 1993 and 1997 CFS

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About 2002 Commodity Flow Survey

Appendix A - Comparability with the 1993 and 1997 CFS

The following tables show a comparison of the key characteristics among the 1993, 1997, and 2002 Commodity Flow Surveys.

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Industry Coverage
Commodity Classification System
Sample Size
Survey Methodology
Reported Mode of Transportation
Data Items Requested

Industry Coverage


1993	1997	2002
Based on 1987 SIC	Based on 1987 SIC	Based on 1997 NAICS¹
Manufacturing (excluding Printing Trade Services (SIC 279))	Manufacturing (excluding Printing Trade Services (SIC 279))	Manufacturing (excluding Prepress Services (NAICS 323122))
Mining (except mining services (SICs 108, 124, 138, 148) and oil and gas extraction (SICs 131 and 132))	Mining (except mining services (SICs 108, 124, 138, 148) and oil and gas extraction (SICs 131 and 132))	Mining (except support activities (NAICS 213) and oil and gas extraction (NAICS 211))
Wholesale (merchants and manufacturers' sales branches and government- owned liquor stores)	Wholesale (merchants and manufacturers' sales branches and government- owned liquor stores)	Wholesale (merchants and manufacturers' sales branches and government- owned liquor stores)
Retail catalog and mail order houses	Retail catalog and mail order houses	Retail electronic shopping and mail order houses
Auxiliaries (e.g., warehouses)	Auxiliaries (e.g., warehouses)	Auxiliaries² (e.g., warehouses)

¹Because of changes in the classification of establishments between SIC and NAICS, establishments classified in the following industries were covered in the 1993 and 1997 surveys, but not in the 2002 survey: NAICS 11331, Logging; NAICS 5111, Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Database Publishers; and NAICS 51223, Music Publishers. Detailed information about NAICS can be found on the Census Bureau Web site at:
http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html

²Coverage of auxiliaries has been expanded for the 2002 CFS. In comparison, for the 1997 CFS, the number of in-scope managing offices was reduced to a large extent based on the results of the 1992 Economic Census. For the 1997 CFS, a managing office was considered in-scope only if it had sales or end-of-year inventories in the 1992 Census. Research conducted prior to the 2002 CFS showed that not all managing offices with shipping activity in the 1997 CFS indicated sales or inventories in the 1997 Economic Census. Therefore, the 1997 Economic Census results were not used to determine scope for managing offices in the 2002 CFS. For the 2002 survey, the inclusion of an increased number of auxiliaries (intermediary distribution centers) which support the operations of retail stores (most of which are, themselves out-of-scope) has more of an impact on the estimates of value and tonnage and less on ton-miles.

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Commodity Classification System

1993	1997	2002
Standard Transportation Commodity Classification (STCC), developed by the Association of American Railroads (AAR)	Standard Classification of Transported Goods (SCTG)	Standard Classification of Transported Goods (SCTG)

Sample Size

1993	1997	2002
Approximately 200,000 establishments selected from a universe of about 790,000 in-scope establishments.	Approximately 100,000 establishments selected from a universe of about 770,000 in-scope establishments.	Approximately 50,000 establishments selected from a universe of about 760,000 in-scope establishments.

Survey Methodology

1993	1997	2002
Respondents reported for a sample of their individual outbound shipments for a 2-week period during each of the four calendar quarters of the reference year.	Respondents reported for a sample of their individual outbound shipments for a 1-week period during each of the four calendar quarters of the reference year.	Respondents reported for a sample of their individual outbound shipments for a 1-week period during each of the four calendar quarters of the reference year.
Respondents reported key characteristics for each sampled shipment	Respondents reported key characteristics for each sampled shipment	Respondents reported key characteristics for each sampled shipment

Reported Mode of Transportation

1993	1997	2002
For-hire truck	For-hire truck	For-hire truck
Private truck	Private truck	Private truck
Rail	Rail	Rail
Air	Air	Air
Inland Water	Shallow draft vessel	Shallow draft vessel
Deep Sea Water	Deep draft vessel	Deep draft vessel
Pipeline	Pipeline	Pipeline
Parcel, U.S. Postal Service, or courier	Parcel, U.S. Postal Service, or courier	Parcel, U.S. Postal Service, or courier
Other	Other	Other
Unknown	Unknown	Unknown

Data Items Requested

1993	1997	2002
For each shipment:	For each shipment:	For each shipment:
Total value	Total value	Total value
Total weight	Total weight	Total weight
Commodity that contributes the most to the shipment's weight (STCC)	Commodity that contributes the most to the shipment's weight (SCTG)	Commodity that contributes the most to the shipment's weight (SCTG)
All known modes of transportation	All known modes of transportation	All known modes of transportation
Single origin (assumed to be the mailing address unless the respondent provided a different physical location address)	Single origin (assumed to be the mailing address unless the respondent provided a different physical location address)	Single origin (assumed to be the mailing address unless the respondent provided a different physical location address)
Destination	Destination	Destination
Containerized (Y/N)	Containerized (Y/N)
Hazardous material (Y/N)	Hazardous material (UN/NA) code	Hazardous material (UN/NA) code
Export (Y/N)	Export (Y/N)	Export (Y/N)
If export: mode of export, foreign city and country of destination; U.S. port, airport, or border crossing of exit.	If export: mode of export, foreign city and country of destination; U.S. port, airport, or border crossing of exit.	If export: mode of export, foreign city and country of destination; U.S. port, airport, or border crossing of exit.