For each of the major U.S. Ports - New York/New Jersey, Boston,
Charleston, Houston, Long Beach/Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans,
Norfolk, Portland, San Francisco, Savannah, Seattle, and Tacoma,
please provide the following for the years 2020, 2009, 2004, 1999,
1994, 1989.

1. Export tonnage by commodity, e.g. agriculture, petroleum, etc.
2. Import tonnage by commodity
3. Percent of each imported commodity consumed with the State where
the Port resides.

---

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 19 Oct 2005 08:05 PDT

powhatan-ga,

Interesting question, but I think your odds of actually having it
answered are pretty small...at least for how it is currently worded.

If I may make a few suggestions:

--Ask a similar, separate question for a single port.  This will allow
both you and the researchers to explore the available information, and
present it to you to see if it works out, without having invested our
effort (and your money) on trying to do all 13 ports.

--Explain, please, what you have in mind for future years -- how are
we to arrive at figures for events that haven't happened yet?  The
ports themselves may or may not offer projections.

--Suppose we find data for 1990, but 1989 (and so on, for the other
years you asked about).  Would that be OK, if we don't get precisely
the years you listed?


--Lastly, this strikes me as a very large undertaking -- much more
than even your $200 price tag would allow.  Please reconsider your
pricing and scope for this effort.

--The intra-state consumption may be an especially elusive figure --
how important is that to your overall query?

--As for the future of the port of New Orleans...who knows?  How do
you suggest we handle that one?

Of course, these are just my suggestions, and I hope they come across
as well-meant.  Other researchers may have different feedback to
offer.

All the best,

pafalafa-ga

---

Clarification of Question by powhatan-ga on 19 Oct 2005 08:32 PDT

I sort of thought this would be a big bite, but I needed to start the
discussion with those more knowledgeable of the challenges involved in
this question. Perhaps if I start with the end in mind. As you may or
may not know the nation's major ports are experiencing greater and
greater demands upon their infrastructure. This has of course cascaded
to the rail and trucking industries. However, it is not clear if the
demands on the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles for example are due
to population growth in CA or along the east coast of the U.S. So I am
looking for to see if there are trends for various import/export
commodities versus the populations near the ports.

In other words, if the population near the ports is having a larger
impact on the activity at the ports than the population increase in
the entire country, then the focus for improving the infrastructure
should be near the ports instead of the rest of the U.S.

I took your commments as constructive and not criticism. Thank you. So
what is our next step?

---

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 23 Oct 2005 14:09 PDT

powhatan-ga,

Perhaps it would help to look at your end goals from another angle.

Your question really has a lot to do with demographics in the US. 
Where will the population centers and population growth be twenty
years from now?

If much of the growth is occuring in, say, Atlanta, and Denver and
other non-port cities, then it is obvious that the demand will grow in
those cities.  That demand will obviously include demand for products
from China, Korea, India, and other overseas location.

The goods can only get here by boat or by plane, and planes just
aren't competitive with boats for many classes of goods -- no
manufacturer flies its cars over to the US, as far as I know.

So...as population grows in Los Angeles or New York, the local demand
created by the growth will be felt in the local port operations.  But
as population grows in Albuquerque or Chatanooga, the demand created
is going to be met by distant ports that receive the goods.

So....would some sort of demographic projections for city-by-city
population growth be of use to you?  If so, how would you like it
crafted?  And what else would you like to see as an answer to your
question.

Let me know what you think,

pafalafa-ga

Hello powhatan-ga,

You?re asking about a huge topic and I?m taking your lead to ?start
with the end in mind.? Your clarification explained that you are
looking for information about trends about the import and export of
commodities taking place through US ports and the anticipated
requirements for improved infrastructure. In particular, you?re
interested in knowing whether infrastructure will need to grow around
the ports or at other locations along the intermodal transportation
routes taking the commodities to their final destinations.

Your original question was about the volume of import/export
quantities of specific commodities moving through specific US ports
with the aim of developing information about how much of those
commodities is consumed near the location of each port. You explained
that you thought this information would give you insights about the
need for increased infrastructure because of increased trade activity.

My preliminary research showed that the information you requested
originally would not provide you with the ultimate information you
said you?re looking for. One of the problems is that there isn?t even
a consistent and universal vocabulary or terminology for what you want
to measure about import/export activity. Fortunately, I found that
alternative searches will provide you with a tremendous amount of
resources to help you with grappling with this huge subject.

I discovered that several of the various government agencies that are
involved in the regulation of ports and intermodal transportation have
excellent websites that provide comprehensive reports and statistics
on the topics that interest you. I?ve collected some that directly
address your concerns. I?ve also included others that will open new
avenues of search to help you with continuing your research.

I trust that I?ve provided you with a good start for the end you have
in mind. Please don?t hesitate to ask for clarification if any of this
is confusing.

Wishing you well for your project.

~ czh ~


===========================================================
INFRASTRUCTURE TRENDS ? PORTS AND INTERMODAL TRANSPORTATION
===========================================================

http://www.marad.dot.gov/Publications/05%20reports/Report%20to%20Congress-Ports%20%20Intermodal%20Efficiency%206-21-05%20final.pdf
Report to Congress on the Performance of Ports and the Intermodal
System ? June 2005

***** This is an 83-page report that reviews the current state of the
US ports and the intermodal transportation system that moves goods out
of the ports to their destinations. It is very well written and
provides an excellent overview of the current capacity of the ports
and intermodal systems and the challenges confronting the. The
discussion is very relevant to your question about growth around the
ports vs. destination points.

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.marad.dot.gov/Publications/ports.htm
Publications & Statistics
Ports and Domestic Shipping 

------------------------

 http://www.marad.dot.gov/index.html 
Welcome to MARAD
PRESS ROOM 
 -- PUBLICATIONS
 -- DATA & STATISTICS
 -- LINKS

***** This is an exceptionally well designed website and the wealth of
resources available is amazing. I suggest that you browse the site and
look for relevant documents under all the headings under the main
menu. There is a very rich catalog of documents available for
download.

-------------------------------------------------


http://searching.gao.gov/query.html?col=+&qt=+port+infrastructure&charset=iso-8859-1&ql=
Government Accountability Office
Search for < "port infrastructure" > 14 results found, scored using
date, sorted by relevance

***** Some of these reports are relevant to your research objectives.

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.ams.usda.gov/tmd/TSB/index.htm
United States Department of Agriculture
Transportation Services Branch

As a USDA authority on transporting agricultural products to market,
the Transportation Services Branch (TSB) informs, represents, and
assists agricultural shippers.

***** This site offers a variety of reports on the transportation of
agricultural commodities.

-------------------------------------------------


http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/websites/retiredsites/natdia_pdf/9vulovic.pdf
Changing Ship Technology and Port Infrastructure Implications

***** This is a six page article that addresses the issues you?ve
raised and highlights concerns about intermodal transportation in
reaction to the development of ever-bigger ships.

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.overseasmaritime.com/ports/namer.htm
Ports of the World - North America & Canada

***** Provides links to the websites of each port.

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3759/is_200505/ai_n14799472
Impact of Shifting Container Cargo Flows on Regional Demand for U.S.
Warehouse Space, The
Journal of Real Estate Portfolio Management,  May-Aug 2005 

Executive Summary. Freight movements are an increasingly important
determinant of warehouse/distribution space demand. In particular, the
rising use of marine container terminals in the global movement of
goods is a major contributor to demand in the United States. This
paper examines the factors that will influence which ports will likely
gain market share, including port facilities and transit times. Trends
in ship size, use of the Suez and Panama Canals, "land-bridging,"
"transloading" and intermodal rail use are also examined. It concludes
with a determination of which warehouse markets should benefit from
the changing flows of containerized goods through the nation's largest
ports.

This article is the winner of the Best Research Paper Presented by a
Practicing Real Estate Professional manuscript prize [sponsored by the
American Real Estate Society Foundation (ARESF)] presented at the 2004
American Real Estate Society Annual Meeting.

***** This is a long and detailed report that addresses some of the
issues you raised.

-------------------------------------------------

http://ntl.bts.gov
Bureau of Transportation Statistics
National Transportation Library, a virtual library for the
transportation community.

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.icfconsulting.com/Markets/Transportation/
ICF Consulting
Perspectives on Transportation

ICF Consulting specializes in addressing issues at the nexus of
transportation and energy, economic development, and the environment.
Our business focus is to assist clients with the design and
implementation of solutions using our skills in transportation
planning, urban and land use planning, environmental science,
economics, financial analysis, policy analysis, and communications.

Much of our work involves the application of complex transportation,
economic analysis, and environmental impact assessment methodologies
to evaluate the direct and indirect impacts of infrastructure
projects, service programs, and government policy.

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm12.htm
Online Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Encyclopedia

http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm16.htm
Freight Transport Management
Increasing Commercial Vehicle Transport Efficiency



==================================================================
PORTS ? AGENCIES, ASSOCIATIONS, PORTALS, DIRECTORIES, PUBLICATIONS
==================================================================

http://www.aapa-ports.org/about/index.html
American Association of Port Authorities

http://www.aapa-ports.org/industryinfo/statistics.htm
Port Industry Statistics

AAPA continuously receives requests on how ports rank nationally and
internationally.  The question is ambiguous, however, since ports can
be compared in many different ways - by volume or value of trade,
number of cruise passengers, revenues, and storage capacity, as
examples.

Moreover, sheer size of a port, in terms of traffic flow, says nothing
about productivity, efficiency, or responsiveness to customers.  These
are just some of the criteria that a shipper might consider in
evaluating port performance.

Statistics - Updated June 10, 2005
 -- North American Port Container Traffic - 2004 ** 
 -- World Port Rankings - 2003* 
 -- 2003 U.S. Port Rankings By Cargo Value* 
 -- 2003 U.S. Port Cargo Tonnage Rankings* 
 -- World Port Rankings - 2002* 
 -- Port of Mexico - Container Traffic (1990-2004)* 
 -- U.S. / Canada Container Traffic in TEUs (1980 - 2004)* 
 -- Container Handling Ports of Central and South America (1997-2003)** 

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.aapa-ports.org/industryinfo/currentissues.html
Current Issues Facing the Industry

Ports play a leading role in facilitating trade and prosperity.  The
expansion of the global economy and other economic pressures are
altering the structure of maritime transportation.  This change has
resulted in several important trends for ports:

1)  the amount of trade and cargo moving through ports is increasing;

2)  vessel sizes are increasing and require deeper channels;

3)  ports, as with other industries, need to maintain environmental
and economic balance in their operations; and,

4)  all of these trends create a greater need for capital investment
in port infrastructure.

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.marad.dot.gov/
US Department of Transportation ? Maritime Administration

-------------------------------------------------


http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/intermodal/
U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
Office of Freight Management and Operations

The Office of Freight Management and Operations promotes efficient,
seamless, and secure freight flows on the U.S. transportation system
and across our borders. The smooth and secure flow of freight is
important to our nation's economy and to our global connectivity.

***** The programs in Freight Analysis and Intermodal Freight
Technology are of special interest for you. The website offers lots of
reports and statistics.

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.worldshipping.org/abo.html
World Shipping Council

The World Shipping Council is a Washington, D.C.-based trade
association representing more than forty liner shipping companies
serving America's international trade. Council members include the
largest container lines in the world as well as smaller niche
carriers, and carriers providing roll-on/roll-off and heavy-lift
services. In addition to ocean transportation, they provide a wide
range of intermodal and logistics services to American importers and
exporters.

***** This site offers a wealth of resources with emphasis on the
shipper?s perspective.

-------------------------------------------------


http://trb.org/
National Academy of Sciences
Transportation Research Board

http://www4.trb.org/trb/onlinepubs.nsf/web/homepage?OpenDocument
TRB Publications

One of the most important activities of the Transportation Research
Board is the dissemination of current research results. A primary goal
of the publications program is to circulate current information and
research on transportation policy and practice as expeditiously and
broadly as possible. The books, reports, and miscellaneous
publications of the Transportation Research Board cover nine general
subject categories: planning, administration, and environment; design;
materials, construction, and maintenance; operations and safety;
aviation; public transit; rail; freight transportation (multimodal);
and marine transportation.

***** You can search more than 1,500 TRB full-text electronic
publications, search for specific hard copy publications, browse by
topic and explore in a variety of ways. This site provides a
tremendous amount of research on your topics of interest.

-------------------------------------------------


http://freight.transportation.org/intermodal_index.html
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
Freight Transportation Network



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