THE CARLOAD WAYBILL STATISTICS: A CONTENT ANALYSIS

With government's reduced role in economic regulation, many of the traditionally available transportation databases have either been discontinued or reduced in scope. In the case of the Carload Waybill Statistics (collected under contract by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) for the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) and one of the single most important databases for railroad regulatory and public policy decision-making), the data collection and reporting processes have undergone many significant enhancements in recent years such as the reliance upon computerized instead of manual data collection and processing, modification of the sampling procedures and an increased emphasis on accuracy. Although this important database receives broad application, user interpretation of the Carload Waybill Statistics (Waybill) does not, in large part, appear to reflect either a working knowledge of the extensive procedural changes accompanying its compilation or the effect that deregulation has had upon the integrity of the data. Areas of misunderstanding include: the true sampling rates and statistical methods employed to estimate total rail activity levels, the effects of Accounting Rule 11 on waybill demographics and flow analyses, billed versus actual lading weights, the effects of contract rates on reported revenues, and the identification of the outliers in data analysis. This paper provides an historical background of the Waybill Sample, explains major changes in collection methods and requirements, provides an overview of current processing techniques and data enhancements, and highlights areas of confusion found in the current literature as to what the Waybill Statistics actually measure. This paper is intended as a guide to the current structure and proper interpretation of the ICC's Waybill Sample.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Charts
• Corporate Authors:

  Cross (Richard B) Company

  Oxford, Indiana,   United States  47971
• Authors:
  • Wolfe, K E
• Publication Date: 1986

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 244-252
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Forum Proceedings
  • Volume: 27
  • Issue Number: 1
  • Publisher: Cross (Richard B) Company

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Carloadings; Data collection; Data quality; Freight traffic; Railroads; Statistical sampling; Statistics; Waybills
• Geographic Terms: United States
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Freight Transportation; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00418639
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Dec 31 2004 12:00AM