Summary of Changes to the 2007 CFS

Attachment A.1.: Summary of Changes to the 2007 Commodity Flow Survey Questionnaires

An additional field was added to the list of shipment characteristics, Item F. A yes/no column (“Y” or “N”) indicating whether or not a shipment was Intermodal.

The number of check boxes for Item G: Monthly Value of Outbound Shipments, has been expanded from six dollar value ranges, to nine. The additional three ranges are at the top range of the values. Respondents only need to check the one box appropriate to their shipping level.

A series of three questions on the use of third-party logistics providers (also known as 3PLs) will be asked of respondents in the fourth quarter only. The proposed questions are as follows:

1. Does your establishment outsource all or a portion of its logistics activities to a third-party logistics provider (3PL)? _ Yes - go to question 2. _ No - end of questions.

2. Which of the following services do 3PLs provide, manage and arrange for this establishment? Mark (X) all that apply:

_ Transportation

_ Contract Warehousing

_ Re-packaging/consolidation

_ Cross-docking

_ Information systems

_ Reverse logistics

_ Management of overall transportation and logistics functions (including dedicated trucking services)

_ Customs brokerage

_ Freight forwarding

_ Inventory control and/or management

3. Please estimate the percentage of this establishment’s outbound shipments (by value) that was shipped with the involvement of a 3PL during the last 12 months? (Check one)

__ less than 25%

__ more than 25% but less than half

__ half

__ more than half but less than 75%

__ 75% or more.

These questions will only be on the questionnaire CFS-2000, sent to all establishments in the sample in the fourth quarter mailing. All other data items on the CFS-2000 are identical to the CFS-1000 questionnaire.