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77
that would need to be included in a national freight data archi- characterize a commodity as well as origin and destination
tecture. A few systems and architectures in Table 1 were of par- locations, the route data component may be missing.
ticular interest because of the lessons that could be derived In addition, the shipper stakeholders interviewed indicated
from the processes that led to their development. The analysis they could not comment on their companies' ability or willing-
included topics such as purpose, content, institutional arrange- ness to share data for freight transportation planning purposes
ments used for developing and maintaining the system or (particularly on a load-by-load basis, given its proprietary and
architecture; challenges and issues faced in creating and main- confidential nature). Subsequent feedback obtained at the peer
taining the architecture or system; strategies and methods for exchange (see below) highlighted a number of strategies to
dealing with data integration issues; and adaptability to serve address this issue, including initiating discussions about data
evolving purposes and data sources. sharing at a sufficiently high administrative level--since low-
ranking personnel might know the data, but frequently do
not have the authority or permission to discuss data sharing
Online Surveys, Interviews,
options. Involving trade associations rather than individual
and Peer Exchange
firms also might be beneficial. A business model also might
The research team conducted a planner and analyst sur- emerge in which data providers would forward sample data
vey, a shipper survey, and a motor carrier survey (as well as to a designated agency on a predetermined schedule for devel-
follow-up interviews) to gather information about freight oping a commodity flow database at the national level. The
data uses and needs. The research team also conducted inter- data would be stripped of certain identifiers to address privacy
views with subject matter experts to address specific items and confidentiality concerns. Although the data would not be
of interest to the research. The purpose of the planner and available for free (since filtering, forwarding, storing, and pro-
analyst survey was to gather information from government cessing the data would involve real costs), it is anticipated that
planners, analysts, and other similar freight-related stake- the cost of collecting the data would be a fraction of the cost to
holders. The invitation to participate in the survey included conduct normal surveys.
groups such as AASHTO committees, TRB committees, and The purpose of the motor carrier survey was to gather infor-
AMPO. Respondents were involved in all modes of trans- mation from the motor carrier community about freight data
portation, including air, rail, truck, pipelines, and water. Not uses and needs, as well as willingness to share data with exter-
surprisingly (given that respondents were typically public- nal freight-related stakeholders. Survey respondents repre-
sector planners), most respondents indicated that they use sented all major sectors of the motor carrier industry, includ-
freight data to support the production of public-sector trans- ing TL, LTL, and specialized. As in the case of shippers, motor
portation planning documents. However, respondents also carriers expressed reservations about sharing proprietary and
reported using data for various other freight-related appli- confidential data. In particular, their reservations were related
cations, adding weight to the notion that the national freight to the need to develop mechanisms to protect proprietary and
data architecture should support various freight-related pro- confidential information and to maintain the anonymity of
cesses. Respondents reported using and/or needing data at var- carriers and customers. In general, carriers would need to
ious levels of geographic coverage and resolution. The feed- know in advance the specific uses of the data and, in return,
back on unmet data needs complement similar findings in the would expect information in the form of industry benchmark-
literature. ing metrics. It is worth noting that developing metrics of inter-
The purpose of the shipper survey was to gather general est to the private sector is part of the scope of work of NCFRP
information from the shipper community regarding freight Project 3, "Performance Measures for Freight Transportation."
data uses and needs, as well as willingness to share data with In practice, the type and amount of data provided by, or
other freight-related stakeholders. The survey included repre- available through, carriers varies considerably, depending on
sentatives of companies of various sizes, including third-party factors such as carrier size, geographic locations, activity focus,
logistics, freight forwarders, manufacturers, retailers, and sup- and type of cargo transported. Carriers handle large amounts
pliers. The shipper industry collects large amounts of data. of disaggregated data during the course of their business oper-
Many shippers and logistics service providers transmit data ations. Increasingly, carriers use EDI standards and applica-
electronically using EDI technologies. These stakeholders use tions. However, most of this information is confidential and
EDI regularly for load tendering, tracking, and billing pur- limited to the direct exchange of data between trading part-
poses. However, accessing data from shippers and logistics ners. In addition, the amount of shipment information detail
service providers for transportation planning applications varies according to the type of carrier. For example, TL carri-
(beyond aggregated data from commercial data providers and ers, who tend to bill customers on a per-mile basis or by using
national survey campaigns such as CFS) is not necessarily a flat rate, rarely collect detailed commodity data. In addition,
straightforward. For example, although a data record might TL carriers are less likely to collect data on tonnage hauled or
