Survey of Ohio River Shippers

OHIO RIVER TRANSPORTATION DEMAND SURVEY 2007

The survey instruments will be based on the following version of a mail questionnaire. This form is very similar to those used in surveys of Columbia-Snake Upper Mississippi shipper surveys, and questions are equivalent in most cases. Both the CAD and the on-line versions will include skip logic and modest reformations of the questions below. These adaptations will include changes to accommodate differences for shippers that are receivers rather than originators (this is the design below). Further, the survey instrument will be pre-loaded to every extent possible and other questions will use interactive estimates to pre-load the question before it is asked (i.e., estimates will be formed on the basis of responses to earlier questions and the respondent will be asked to verify or correct. Finally, there may be modest changes in the order and the wording of the questions.

The following will be placed on the title page (with modest revisions, if necessary)

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it has a valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. The valid OMB number for this information collection is OMB 0710-0001and the expiration date is September 2009. The time required to complete this information is estimated to average 15-20 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Your participation is voluntary and all responses will be kept confidential. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this data collection, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Department of Defense, Washington Headquarters Services, Executive Services Directorate, Information Management Division, and the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, D.C. 20503, Attn.: Desk Officer for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Please DO NOT RETURN your completed form to either of these offices.

Q1. Do you have rail access at your facility?

₁ Yes  Q1b. What is your rail car loading capacity? ______ # of cars

 Q1c. When you order rail cars, how long do you wait for equipment?

Days _____ + Hours _______

₂ No

Q2. How far is it to the nearest rail facility you use or would use?

______ miles (mark zero if you have rail service at your facility)

Q3. Do you have barge access at this facility?

₁ Yes  Q1c. When you order barges, how long do you wait for equipment?

Days _____ + Hours _______

₂ No

Q4. How far is it to the nearest barge facility you use or would use?

______ miles (mark zero if you have barge service at your facility).

Q5. Do you have truck access at this facility?

₁ Yes  Q1c. When you order trucks, how long do you wait for equipment?

Q5. How large is your facility?

______«Annual Volumes»____________ Total Amount of Annual Units Shipped

please check the type of unit for this facility

₁ Tons ₂ Cwt. ₃ Gallons ₄ Shipment ₅ Other (specify): ____________________

____«Capacity»______________ Total Amount of Storage Capacity

₁ Tons ₂ Cwt. ₃ Gallons ₄ Shipment ₅ Other (specify): ____________________

Shipment Information

_

Choice: Consider your last shipment of _«Commodity» from this or your major facility at _«Location»

Q6. Where was this commodity shipped to: ____________________________ city _______ state

Q7. What type of destination is this?

₁ River terminal ₂ Distribution center ₃ Railroad terminal ₄ Processing Plant

₅ Other (please specify): ________________________

Q8. How large was your last single outbound shipment (payload weight)? __________

_____________________________ payload weight

₁ Tons ₂ Cwt. ₃ Gallons ₄ Shipment ₅ Other (specify): ____________________

Q9. What types of transportation modes were used for this shipment, approximately what distance did each travel (in miles), and what was the transportation rate?

Mode Distance Transportation Per Unit type for commodity

(check if used) traveled rate Tons Cwt Gallons Shipment Other

▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼

 Truck __________ miles ___«Estimate»_____ rate ₁ ₂ ₃ ₄ ₅

 Rail __________ miles ___«Estimate»_____ rate ₁ ₂ ₃ ₄ ₅

 Barge __________ miles __«Estimate»___ rate ₁ ₂ ₃ ₄ ₅

_«Estimate»______ What were the total transport costs? ₁ ₂ ₃ ₄ ₅

_«Estimate»_________ What was the total shipment distance in miles?

Q10.What do you estimate was the shipment time (from the time equipment arrives, how long to transit to destination)

__«Estimate»________ days + «Estimate»_hours.

Q11.How reliable is the service? That is, for shipments like this one, what percent of the time do you expect them to arrive on time?

__«Estimate»_________ percent on-time arrivals

Q12. What price did you receive for your commodity at the destination terminal?

_«Estimate»__________ dollars

₁ Tons ₂ Cwt. ₃ Gallons ₄ Shipment ₅ Other (specify): ____________________

Shipping Alternatives

We want to know what options you could take if the mode and destination you used for your last shipment had not been available and would never be available. For example, if the rail system were shut down, shippers who used rail could use truck instead of rail, or could use barge with truck access to a barge loading facility, or could have sent the shipment to a different destination. We need to know what these alternatives are for you. Nearly everyone has some kind of shipping alternatives. If not, then the only alternative is to shut down and go out of business. Please provide us with information on these alternatives for you.

Q13. First, do you have any shipping alternatives?

Q8b. Please explain why you have no shipping alternatives.

₁ Yes  skip to Q11

₂ No

Q14. Does this mean you could not ship to any other locations or that you have no other transportation mode options? (Check all that apply)

Q9b. If either or both boxes are checked, please explain.

₁ Could not ship to other locations

₂ Do not have other transportation modes

Q15. If the shipment you made could not have been made, i.e., the mode, the location, or both were not available for a lengthy time period and you have no alternatives, does this mean your establishment would go out-of-business and cease operations? (e.g., Katrina shut down the river and New Orleans for a lengthy time period.)

skip to Q25

₁ Yes

₂ No

First Shipping Alternative

Q16. Where would it be shipped to? ____________________ city ______ state

Q16b. What type of destination is this?

₁ River terminal ₂ Distribution center ₃ Railroad terminal ₄ Processing Plant

₅ Other (please specify): ________________________

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Q17. What types of transportation modes would be used for this shipment, approximately what distance did each travel (in miles), and what was the transportation rate?

Mode Distance Transportation Per Unit type for commodity

(check if used) traveled rate Tons Cwt Gallons Shipment Other

▼ ▼ «Estimate»▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼

 Truck __________ miles __________ rate ₁ ₂ ₃ ₄ ₅

 Rail __________ miles __________ rate ₁ ₂ ₃ ₄ ₅

 Barge __________ miles __________ rate ₁ ₂ ₃ ₄ ₅

_________ What would be the total transport costs? ₁ ₂ ₃ ₄ ₅

_________ What would be the total shipment distance in miles?

Q18. What do you estimate would be the shipment time (from the time equipment arrives, how long to transit to destination)

____«Estimate»_____ days + __«Estimate»_______ hours.

Q19. How reliable is the service? That is, for shipments like this one, what percent of the time do you expect them to arrive on time?

__«Estimate»________ percent on-time arrivals

Q20. How large would your shipment be (payload weight)?

_____________________________ payload weight

₁ Tons ₂ Cwt. ₃ Gallons ₄ Shipment ₅ Other (specify): ____________________

Q21. What price would you receive for your commodity at the destination terminal?

_«Estimate»_________ dollars

₁ Tons ₂ Cwt. ₃ Gallons ₄ Shipment ₅ Other (specify): ____________________

Other Shipping Alternatives

If you have any other shipping alternatives, please complete the table below, otherwise skip to QXX.

	Second Alternative	Third Alternative
Q22. Where would it be shipped to?	______________ city _____ state	______________ city _____ state
Q23. What type of destination is this?	1 River terminal 2 Distribution center 3 Railroad terminal 4 Processing PlantType ________ 5 Other (specify): _______________	1 River terminal 2 Distribution center 3 Railroad terminal 4 Processing PlantType ________ 5 Other (specify): _______________
Q24. What type of transportation modes would be used for this shipment?	Mode Distance Transportation (Check if used) traveled rate «Estimate» ▼ ▼ ▼  Truck _____miles ____rate  Rail _____miles ____rate  Barge _____miles ____rate 1 Tons 2 Cwt. 3 Gallons 4 Shipment 5 Other (specify):	Mode Distance Transportation (Check if used) traveled rate «Estimate»  Truck _____miles ____rate  Rail _____miles ____rate  Barge _____miles ____rate 1 Tons 2 Cwt. 3 Gallons 4 Shipment 5 Other (specify):
Q25. What do you estimate would be the shipment time?	«Estimate» _____ days + _____ hours	«Estimate» _____ days + _____ hours
Q26. How reliable is the service?	«Estimate» _____% on-time arrivals	estimate» _____% on-time arrivals
Q27. How large would the shipment be?	__________ payload weight 1 Tons 2 Cwt. 3 Gallons 4 Shipment 5 Other (specify):	__________ payload weight 1 Tons 2 Cwt. 3 Gallons 4 Shipment 5 Other (specify):
Q28. What estimated price would you receive for your commodity at the destination terminal	«Estimate» __________ dollars 1 Tons 2 Cwt. 3 Gallons 4 Shipment 5 Other (specify):	«Estimate» __________ dollars 1 Tons 2 Cwt. 3 Gallons 4 Shipment 5 Other (specify):

Best Alternative Choice

Q29. Of the alternative shipments, what is your “preferred alternative”? That is, if you did not make the shipment you made, what shipment would you have made?

₁ First Alternative

₂ Second Alternative

₃ Third Alternative

₄ Other Alternative (please specify): _____________________

Transportation Rate sensitivity

We generally know how important transportation rates and service are to a shipper. We need to have a sense of how you would react to rate and service changes. In each of the next three questions relating to rate and service changes, please regard the changes as permanent changes. Also, if you marked you have no alternatives in Q8, page 3, please consider “out-of-business” as your alternative.

Q30. For your last shipment, if the transportation rate increased «Percent_change1»%, would you continue with the original mode and destination or switch to your best alternative choice?

₁ Continue to use Original mode

₂ Switch to Best Alternative Choice  Skip to Q26

₃ Go out-of-business  Skip to Q26

Q30b.If you would continue to use your Original mode, what percentage increase in the transportation rate would be necessary to cause you to switch to the Alternative transportation mode?

______ % increase

Transit Time

Q31. For your last shipment, if the transit time (including scheduling and wait for equipment) for the original option increased «Percent_change2»%, would you continue with the original mode and destination or switch to the alternative at this location?

₁ Continue to use Original mode

₂ Switch to Best Alternative Choice  Skip to QXX

₃ Go out-of-business  Skip to QXX

Q31b. If you would continue to use your Original mode, what percentage increase in the transit time would be necessary to cause you to switch to the Alternative transportation mode?

______ % increase

Reliability

Q32. For your last shipment, if the reliability (percentage of time shipments arrived on-time) of the original option decreased «Percent_change3»%, would you continue with the original mode and destination or switch to the alternative at this location?

₁ Continue to use Original mode

₂ Switch to Best Alternative Choice  Skip to Qxx

₃ Go out-of-business  Skip to Qxx

Q32b. If continue to use Original mode, what percentage decrease in the reliability would be necessary to cause you to switch to the Alternative transportation mode?

______ % increase

Volume senstivity

Q33. If the average transportation rate you pay increased by «Percent_change4»%, would your annual volume shipped decrease (assume the rate increase applies to BOTH you and to your competitors)?

₁ Yes

₂ No  Skip to Q29

Q33b. If yes, by how much would the volume decrease (assuming the rate increase applies to both you and to your competitors)?

__________ volume decrease

Q34. If the average transportation rate you pay increased by «Percent_change5»%, would your annual volume decrease (assume that the rate increase applies ONLY to your firm and NOT to your competitors)?

₁ Yes

₂ No  Skip to Qxx

Q34b. If yes, by how much would the volume decrease (assuming that the rate increase applies ONLY to your firm and NOT to your competitors)?

__________ volume decrease

Q35. If the average time in transit increased by «Percent_change6»%, would your annual volume decrease?

₁ Yes

₂ No  skip to Qxx

Q35b. If yes, by how much would the volume decrease?

__________ volume decrease

Q36. If the average time that shipments arrive on-time decreased by «Percent_change7»%, would your annual volume decrease?

₁ Yes

₂ No  skip to Qxx

Q36b. If yes, by how much would the volume decrease?

__________ volume decrease

Shipper Characteristics

Q37. How long has this facility been at its current location?

_____ years

Q38. Does your firm (or parent firm) own export or import facilities?

₁ Yes

₂ No

Q39. How many facilities such as this one does your firm own and/or operate?

_______________ number of establishments.

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