Publications

Estimation of an origin-destination table for U.S. imports of waterborne containerized freight

Wang, Hao; Gearhart, Jared L.; Jones, Katherine A.; Frazier, Christopher R.; Nozick, Linda K.; Levine, Brian; Jones, Dean A.

This paper presents a probabilistic origin-destination table for waterborne containerized imports. The analysis makes use of 2012 Port Import/Export Reporting Service data, 2012 Surface Transportation Board waybill data, a gravity model, and information on the landside transportation mode split associated with specifc ports. This analysis suggests that about 70% of the origin-destination table entries have a coeffcient of variation of less than 20%. This 70% of entries is associated with about 78% of the total volume. This analysis also makes evident the importance of rail interchange points in Chicago, Illinois; Memphis, Tennessee; Dallas, Texas; and Kansas City, Missouri, in supporting the transportation of containerized goods from Asia through West Coast ports to the eastern United States.