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Public Information Office CB99-234
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John Fowler
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Nation's Businesses Ship Nearly $7 Trillion
in Goods in 1997, Census Bureau Reports
Businesses in mining, manufacturing, wholesale and selected retail
industries shipped nearly 11 billion tons of goods worth $6.9 trillion in
1997, according to a series of reports released today by the Commerce
Department's Census Bureau.
For-hire trucks carried about 42 percent of the total value and
31 percent of the tonnage while private trucks carried 29 percent of the
total value and 37 percent of the tonnage. More than half of the tonnage
shipped traveled under 50 miles. ("For-hire" trucks are those not owned or
operated by the company initiating the shipment; "private" trucks are
those owned or operated by the company initiating or receiving the
shipment.)
The findings come from the Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) reports, a part
of the 1997 Economic Census. The Census Bureau conducted this survey in
partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of
Transportation Statistics. Policy-makers use the results to assess the
nation's transportation needs.
The 52 CFS reports released today may be accessed on the Internet.
Individual reports for each state and a U.S. summary show data on the
movement of goods by value, weight, average miles per shipment, mode of
transportation and type of commodity shipped. A separate report contains
the first-ever CFS data on hazardous material shipments by hazard class,
mode of transportation, states of origin and other characteristics.
Additional data, including information for metropolitan areas, will be
released on the Internet and on CD-ROM in upcoming weeks.
Data for the 1997 CFS were reported on a Standard Industrial
Classification (SIC) basis, but future surveys will use the North American
Industry Classification System (NAICS), which provides updated industry
classifications for Transportation and Warehousing and 19 other economic
sectors.
Estimates from the 1997 Commodity Flow Survey are subject to sampling
and nonsampling error. Sources of nonsampling error include errors of
response, nonreporting and coverage. Measures of sampling variability,
presented as relative standard errors, are shown in the report tables.
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