Corps of Engineers Civil Works Questionnaires Generic Clearance

RIVER TRANSPORTATION CHOICE AND NEEDS SURVEY

(Personal Interview)

OMB 0710-0001

Expires: 30 September 2012

The public report burden for this information collection is estimated to average 20 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. 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.

River Transportation

Choice and Needs Survey

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 November 2005. The time required to complete this information is estimated to average 30 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.

Elevator Characteristics

For each of the following questions, please answer for Warehouse Location

Q1. What is the primary commodity you ship from this elevator?

_____________________________ name of commodity

Q2. How large was your last single outbound shipment (payload weight)?

_____________________________ payload weight

please check the type of unit for this weight

₁ Tons ₂ Bushels ₃ Cwt.

₄ Gallons ₅ Other (specify: ____________________)

Q3. At this location, do you have loading or unloading capabilities for…

Loading Unloading

Yes No Yes No

▼ ▼ ▼ ▼

1. Trucks ₁ ₂ ₁ ₂

2. Barges ₁ ₂ ₁ ₂

c. Rail Cars ₁ ₂ ₁ ₂

Q3b. If NO to Barge loading capability, how close is the nearest barge loading facility to this facility?

_______ miles

Q3c. If NO to Rail loading capability, how close is the nearest rail loading facility to this facility?

_______ miles

Q4. What type (or mode) of transportation do you use most often for your freight shipments from this location? (Check all that apply)

₁ Private Truck

₂ For-Hire Truck

₃ Barge

₄ Rail

₅ Other (Please specify: __________________________)

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Shipment Decisions

Q5. What commodity was shipped in your very last freight shipment?

___________________ commodity shipped

Q6. We are interested in learning more about your shipment decisions and patterns. When answering the following questions, please think about your very last freight shipment

	Mode and Destination Combinations
Please answer for each mode and destination listed	Truck to Pasco then Barge to ________	Truck to ________ (write in river port* ) then Barge to ________	Rail to ________	Truck to Railroad then Rail to ________	Barge to ________	Other __________ (please specify)
	▼	▼	▼	▼	▼	▼
A. Is this transportation mode physically available at this elevator?	1 Yes 2 No	1 Yes 2 No	1 Yes 2 No	1 Yes 2 No	1 Yes 2 No	1 Yes 2 No
B. What is the trans- portation rate for this shipment? ($/unit)	_______ Truck _______ Barge	_______ Truck _______ Barge	_______ Rail	_______ Truck _______ Rail	_______ Barge	_______
C. What is the average shipment time? (include scheduling, wait for equipment, and transit time)	_______ Days	_______ Days	_______ Days	_______ Days	_______ Days	_______ Days
D. What percent of the time do shipments like this arrive on time at the final destination?	______ % on-time arrivals	______ % on-time arrivals	______ % on-time arrivals	______ % on-time arrivals	______ % on-time arrivals	______ % on-time arrivals

Q7. Which one of these did you use for your very last freight shipment?

 ₁ Truck to ____________

₂ Truck to ___________________ then Barge to _________

₃ Rail to ________

₄ Truck to Railroad then Rail to __________________

₅ Barge to ______________

₆ Other (Specify mode and destination): _______________________

Q8. Now suppose your original option for transportation (listed in Q7) was unavailable for six months. During that time period, what mode/destination option would you now utilize? (Please check ONE box)

₁ Truck to Pasco then Barge to ________

₂ Truck to ___________________ then Barge to ________

₃ Rail to ________

₄ Truck to Railroad then Rail to ________

₅ Barge to ________

₆ Other (Specify mode and destination): _______________________

₇ No alternatives available  Skip to Q12

For the following three sections, consider your response to Q7 as the “Original” shipment mode and your response to Q8 as the “Alternative” shipment mode. We would like to learn what circumstances would cause you to switch from the Original shipment modes to the Alternative at this location.

Transportation Rate

Q9. If the transportation rate increased «Percent_change1»%, would you switch to the alternative at this location or continue with the original mode and destination?

₁ Switch to Alternative mode  Skip to Q10

₂ Continue to use Original mode

Q9a. If continue to use 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

Q10. If the transit time (including scheduling and wait for equipment) for the original option increased «Percent_change1»%, would you switch to the alternative at this location or continue with the original mode and destination?

₁ Switch to Alternative mode  Skip to Q11

₂ Continue to use Original mode

Q10a. If continue to use Original mode, what percentage increase in the transit time would be necessary to cause you to switch to the Alternative transportation mode?

______ % increase

Reliability

Q11. If the reliability (percentage of time shipments arrived on-time) of the original option decreased «Percent_change1»%, would you switch to the alternative at this location or continue with the original mode and destination?

₁ Switch to Alternative mode  Skip to Q12

₂ Continue to use Original mode

Q11a. 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?

______ % decrease

Elevator Characteristics

Q12. How long has this elevator been at its current location?

_____ years

Q13. How important were logistic costs in determining your current plant location?

₁ Very important

₂ Somewhat important

₃ Not very important

₄ Not important at all

₅ Not applicable

Q14. If you were offered an alternative plant location that would result in lower logistic and transportation costs, what percentage decrease in logistics and transportation costs would be necessary to induce you to relocate?

_____ % decrease in costs

 Check here if you would not relocate.

Q15. What modes of transportation do you commonly use for inbound and outbound shipments (check all that apply) and what percentage of your shipments does each mode comprise?

Inbound Outbound

Shipments Shipments

Is this What percentage Is this What percentage

mode of your total mode of your total

used? shipments come used? shipments go

in this way? out this way?

Yes No Yes No

▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼

Private Truck ₁ ₂­­­­ ______% ₁ ₂ ______%

For-Hire Truck ₁ ₂­­­­ ______% ₁ ₂ ______%

Barge ₁ ₂­­­­ ______% ₁ ₂ ______%

Rail ₁ ₂­­­­ ______% ₁ ₂ ______%

Q16. How many rail cars can be loaded or unloaded at your facility at a given time?

______ # of cars

 Check here if you cannot load or unload rail cars at this facility.

Q17. Thinking about the commodity you ship most often, what was the average commodity price over the last three years in your county before it was shipped?

__________________ price per unit

please check the type of unit for this commodity

₁ Tons ₂ Bushels ₃ Cwt.

₄ Gallons ₅ Other (specify: ____________________)

Q18. How large is this elevator facility?

__________________ Total Amount of Annual Units Shipped

please check the type of unit for this elevator

₁ Tons ₂ Bushels ₃ Cwt.

₄ Gallons ₅ Other (specify: ____________________)

__________________ Total Amount of Storage Capacity

please check the type of unit for this elevator

₁ Tons ₂ Bushels ₃ Cwt.

₄ Gallons ₅ Other (specify: ____________________)

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