Corps of Engineers Civil Works Questionnaires Generic Clearance

TRANSPORTATION CHOICE AND SATISFACTION SURVEY

(Personal Interview)

OMB 0710-0001

Expires: 30 September 2012

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TRANSPORTATION CHOICE AND SATISFACTION SURVEY

We’d first like to ask you a couple of questions about your firm.

Introduction

1. Where is your firm or facility located: (where does the firm receive to or ship from)

City ______________ County _____________ State _____________ Zip ____________

.

2. What is the primary commodity your firm or facility transports: ______________

Shipment Characteristics:

We’d now like to ask you a few questions about your last shipment

3. Consider the very last shipment of __refer to question 2___you made. Where did this shipment travel to and from (in the US)?

From: City _______________ State ______________

To: City_______________ State_______________

4. On this last shipment, what mode(s) did you use? (CAN HAVE MORE THAN ONE YES ANSWER, BUT NOT ALL NO’S)

Barge Yes No

Rail Yes No

Truck (for hire ____ or your own ____) Yes No

5. How large was the shipment? (just one needed) __________ tons

__________ bushels

__________ cwt (hundred weights)

6. How long did the shipment take (to reach its terminal point, US)?

Days __________ Hours ____________

7. Did the shipment arrive on time? Yes No

If not, how long was it delayed? Days ________ Hours _______

8. Approximately, how far did the shipment travel? __________miles

9. What was the rate for barge? $_________

What was the unit (per ton___, per cwt____, per bushel___, other ____specify_________)

What was the rate for rail? $_________

What was the unit (per ton___, per cwt____, per bushel___, other ____specify_________)

What was the rate for truck? $_________

What was the unit (per ton___, per cwt____, per bushel___, other ____specify_________)

Total rates for all modes _____________ Unit of measurement ______________

.

If a private (they own the trucks) shipment, what is your estimate of per unit cost?

$ ___________

Is that Per ton _________

Per bushel _________

Per cwt (hundredweight) _________

Per mile _________

Now, we would like some information about the alternatives you have. Suppose you could not ship to or from (SURVEYOR INSERT location from Q3) by (SURVEYOR INSERT mode from Q4),what would you have done?.

10. Would you ship by other modes to and from the same locations or would you choose other locations.

Other mode to same location ___________ Other locations ___________ Shut down ________

If other location, where? From: City _____________State_______________

To: City _____________State_______________

If they report they have no alternatives ask the following as a prompt/question:

Well, does that mean you would shut down? ____yes _____no

If no, what would you do? FILL IN 10!

11. For this alternative shipment, what mode or modes would you use?

Barge Yes No

Rail Yes No

Truck (for hire___ or your own___) Yes No

FOR QUESTION #12, REFER TO QUESTION #11 FOR THE MODES TO ASK:

12. a. What would be an approximate the rate for barge? $_________

What was the unit (per ton___, per cwt____, per bushel___, other ____specify_________)

b. What would be an approximate rate for rail? $_________

What was the unit (per ton___, per cwt____, per bushel___, other ____specify_________)

c. What would be an approximate rate for truck? $_________

What was the unit (per ton___, per cwt____, per bushel___, other ____specify_________)

$_____________ Unit of measurement ________________

13. How long would the alternative shipment be expected to take (to reach its terminal point, US)?

Days __________ Hours ____________

14. How often do similar shipments arrive on time? _________ %

15. Approximately, how far would the alternative shipment travel? __________miles

16. How large would this alternative shipment be? __________ tons

__________ bushels

__________ cwt (hundred weights)

We now like you to consider what conditions, if any, might cause you to switch from your original shipment to the alternative. Your last shipment was to/from (insert question 3 response) by (insert question 4 response). You said your alternative was a shipment was to/from (insert question 10 response) by (insert question 11 response).

17. If the rate of the original choice was ____ percent Original Alternative

higher than what you paid, would you make

the original choice or the alternative?

If original, by what percentage would rates have to increase to induce a switch to the alternative?

_________%

18. If the transit time of the original choice was ____ Original Alternative

Percent higher than what you paid, would you make

the original choice or the alternative?

If original, by what percentage would times in transit have to increase to induce a switch to the alternative? _________%

19. If the reliability of the mode your chose (i.e., Original Alternative

the percentage of time shipments arrived

on-time) fell by ____ percentage points, would

you make the original choice or the alternative?

If original, by how many percentage points would reliability have to increase to induce a switch to the alternative? _________%

Location decisions

20. How important are or were logistics costs in determining your plants location?

(logistics costs = shipping, handling, inventory)

(1= very important, 3=somewhat important, 5=not important) (Circle the best choice) 1 2 3 4 5

21. How long has your plant been at its current location? ____ years

22. If you were offered another plant location at lower logistics and transportation costs,

what percentage lower would these costs need to be to cause you to relocate? ____% lower

23. Suppose you were a start-up business and you were offered two locations with different

logistics costs and different investment costs. Location A has ____ lower logistics costs

than Location B, but Location A has a ____ higher investment cost.

Investments have a 25-year life and all other relevant factors are the same.

Which location would you choose? (circle either A or B) A B

Perceptions

Now we’d like to ask about the factors that most influence your shipping decisions. Please answer the following with respect to ALL SHIPMENTS YOU MAKE.

24. In order of importance, what the most important factors influencing your shipping decisions?

Most important _______________________________________________

2^nd most important _______________________________________________

3^rd most important _______________________________________________

25. If the average transportation rate you pay increased by ___ percent, would

your annual volumes decrease? Yes No

If yes, by how much? _____%

26. If the average transit time you incur (by all modes) increased by ___

percent, would your annual volumes be affected? Yes No

If yes, by how much? ____%

27. What do you consider to be the most important issues facing transportation shippers today?

__________________________________________________________________

Shipper Characteristics

28. How large is your firm or facility? (THEIR LOCATION ONLY)

Revenues per year _________________

Tons shipped per year _________________

Number of employees _________________

29. What modes do you use to ship your ________ (insert commodity listed in question 2)

Barge Yes No

Rail Yes No

For-Hire Truck Yes No

Private (your) truck Yes No

30. What percentage of your shipments involve:

Barge: _______%

Rail: _______%

For-hire Truck _______%

Private Truck _______%

31. What is the average price or value of the ______ (insert commodity from question 2) you pay or receive?

Price __________ Unit of measurement ________ (ton, bushel, cwt (hundred wt.))

Is this the value at your location or at the location being transported to or from?

Yours

Other

32. How far is the nearest rail loading facility? ___________miles

33. How far is the nearest barge loading facility? ___________miles

34. Do you have loading and unloading equipment for:

Barge Shipments Yes No

Rail Shipments Yes No

Truck Shipments Yes No

35. What fraction of the delivered value of your commodity represents logistics costs (i.e., rate + inventory + handling/landed price)?

____________________

Thanks so much for your help with this survey!

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