Freight Model: Glossary of Terms

Average Length-of-Haul
  Tonmiles divided by tons.

Carloadings
  Rail Carloadings Originated. The transfer of a carload to another railroad for the purpose of terminating the shipment or passing it to another railroad is only counted as one loading. Units shown in thousands, actual seasonally adjusted.

Class I Rail
  Railroads with revenue over $256 million dollars.

Coastwise Water
  Domestic traffic receiving a carriage over the ocean, or the Gulf of Mexico, (i.e. New Orleans to Baltimore, New York to Puerto Rico, San Francisco to Hawaii, Alaska to Hawaii). Traffic between Great Lakes ports and seacoast ports, when having a carriage over the ocean, is also termed Coastwise. This is Domestic Traffic Only.

Intermodal
  Rail Intermodal Loadings of Units Originated. Contains International and Domestic Containers as well as Trailers shipped via rail. The transfer of a container or trailer to another railroad for the purpose of terminating the shipment or passing it to another railroad is only counted as one loading. Intermodal is defined as a movement of a container or trailer via more than one mode of transportation (i.e. rail and truck). Units are actual seasonally adjusted.

Internal Water
  Vessel movements (origin and destination) which take place solely on inland waterways. An inland waterway is one geographically located within the boundaries of the contiguous 48 states or within the boundaries of the State of Alaska. The term “internal traffic” is also applied to these vessel movements: those which involve carriage on both inland waterways and the Great Lakes; those occurring between offshore areas and inland waterways (i.e. oil rig supplies and fish); and those taking place within Delaware Bay, Chesapeake Bay, Puget Sound, and the San Francisco Bay, which are considered internal bodies of water rather than arms of the ocean. This is Domestic Traffic Only.

Lakewise Water
  Waterborne traffic between the United States ports on the Great Lakes System. The Great Lakes System is treated as a separate waterway system rather than as a part of the inland waterway system. This is Domestic Traffic Only.

Long Haul
  Average Length-of-Haul 300 miles or longer. Designated by Commodity at the 3-Digit level.

Manufactured
  This is defined as a good that has gone through a manufacturing process that creates a unique product, excluding those commodities as defined as “processed”. This designation is determined at the 3-Digit level.

Medium Haul
  Average Length-of-Haul between 125 and 299 miles. Designated by Commodity at the 3-Digit level.

Non-Class I Rail
  Railroads with revenue less than $256 million dollars.

Processed
  Typically an intermediate stage between Raw and Manufactured. The goods in this stage have been processed in some fashion but are primarily transported in bulk. This designation is determined at the 3-Digit level. (i.e. hydraulic cement, iron or steel castings, products of petroleum refining, etc.)

Raw
  Any commodity that is in the extraction stage and has not yet reached the “processed” stage. This designation is determined at the 3-Digit level. (i.e. coal, iron ore, crushed stone, etc.)

SAAR
  Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate.

Short Haul
  Average Length-of-Haul less than 125 miles. Designated by Commodity at the 3-Digit level.

STCC
  Standard Transportation Commodity Code. (Similar to the SIC Codes with a few added categories designed for transportation movements)

Ton
  Ton Originated by specific mode (i.e. one ton of coal shipped by rail and then by water would be shown as two tons of coal).
This is Domestic Traffic Only. Export movements are included only as far as the border or to a port in which it will be directly exported. The same is true for Imports. An import is counted once it reaches the border or a port.
Tons are actual seasonally adjusted.

Tonmile
  One ton moved one mile. Tonmiles are actual seasonally adjusted