OSRA Part B 08042022 083800

Information Collection Request Supporting Statement: Section B

Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA) Pilot Data Collection

Abstract:¹ The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the U.S. Department of Transportation is seeking approval to collect information on “the total street dwell time from all causes of marine containers and chassis and the average out of service percentage of chassis” from “each port, marine terminal operator, and chassis owner or provider with a fleet of over 50 chassis that supply chassis for a fee” as mandated by the Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA) 22. BTS proposes to conduct an OSRA 22 pilot data collection to scope intermodal marine container and chassis data sources and data items through the process of exploratory interviews to determine the feasibility of producing monthly statistics on marine container and chassis street dwell time and chassis out of service rates. The population of interest will include approximately 190-265 respondents representing the approximate set of 90 chassis owners, motor carriers, and/or intermodal equipment providers (IEPs), as well as the top 25 ports and inland ports and their approximately 75-150 intermodal terminal facilities, inland dry ports, intermodal terminal facilities operators (e.g., ICTF = Intermodal Container Transfer Facility). The data of interest will yield statistics on the total intermodal marine container and chassis street dwell time and the chassis out of service rate to satisfy the OSRA 22 mandate.

B.1. Describe the potential respondent universe and any sampling or other respondent selection method to be used.

B.1.a. Respondent Universe

The pilot data collection will draw from two unique response universes.

The first is the universe of chassis providers that have a fleet of 50 or more chassis that offer common-carriage service to the U.S. market for a fee.

The second is the universe of intermodal shipping containers at ports and inland ports. The subpopulation of interest as determined by OSRA 22 will be the top 25 ports and inland ports by total number of intermodal shipping containers (ISO 668) handled as measured in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU).

B.1.b. Respondent Sampling

Just as the data collection will draw from two unique response universes, there will be two respondent samples for the data collection.

The sample of common-carriage chassis owners and/or providers will be drawn from the universe of IEPs. The sample will be selected from just those IEPs that have over 50 chassis that supply chassis for a fee, as identified by OSRA 22. The sample of chassis owners and/or providers will be stratified by business characteristics and sampled to ensure every type of chassis owner and/or provider is interviewed to understand the full scope of providers and the variations in their data; i.e. type, storage, access to, and possible limitations.

The sample of the top 25 ports will be selected by ranking the ports by the total number of intermodal shipping containers (ISO/maritime and domestic) handled as measured in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), as defined by either:

1. Top 25 container ports only including ocean and inland waterway ports by TEU; or

2. Top 25 container ports including ocean ports, inland waterway ports and inland dry ports/inland intermodal rail terminals by TEU

The ports will then be further sampled, first by geography and then by size to ensure that the interviews gather a full picture on the variations in the ways in which ports gather, store, and supply access to their data, in addition to all possible data limitations.

B.1.b.1 Sampling Frame

The sampling frame for chassis providers will come from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s mandatory IEP registration list.

The sampling frame for intermodal shipping containers at the top 25 ports will be synthesized through several different sources, including port authority data and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers container port data.

B.1.c.1 Data Elements

The pilot will begin with exploratory interviews to gather what data elements are available to inform the necessary statistics requested in OSRA 22, as well as how the data is stored, how frequently it is updated, how it can be transferred and any limitations of the data. This information and, if possible, preliminary data will be used to further define and develop a National OSRA data collection program. Tables 1 and 2 give an overview of the types of data that will possibly be collected to develop national marine container and chassis dwell time statistics, as well as chassis out of service statistics.

Table 1. Possible Intermodal Shipping Container Data Elements to be Collected

Data Element	Unit	Frequency	Node	Owner/Provider
Intermodal shipping container universe	Estimated total number of intermodal shipping containers as measured by TEU in the US	Monthly	Country of origin, port of destination, rail yard, end destination	Ocean Carrier, Port, including inland dry ports / Marine terminal operator, intermodal terminal facilities operators (e.g., ICTF)
Intermodal shipping containers at the top 25 ports	Estimated total number of intermodal shipping containers as measured by TEU surveyed at the top 25 ports	Monthly	Port of origin, port of destination, rail yard, end destination	Ocean Carrier, Port, including inland dry ports / Marine terminal operator, intermodal terminal facilities operators (e.g., ICTF)
Available intermodal shipping containers for export	Estimated number of loaded or unloaded intermodal shipping containers surveyed from the top 25 ports	Monthly	Port of origin, destination marine terminal, rail yard, end destination	Ocean Carrier? Port, including inland dry ports / Marine terminal operator, intermodal terminal facilities operators (e.g., ICTF)
Unavailable intermodal shipping containers for export	Estimated number of intermodal shipping containers and dwell time surveyed from the top 25 ports	Monthly	Port of origin, destination marine terminal, rail yard, end destination	Ocean Carrier? Port, including inland dry ports / Marine terminal operator, intermodal terminal facilities operators (e.g., ICTF)

Table 2. Possible Chassis Data Elements to be Collected

Data Element	Unit	Frequency	Node	Owner/Provider
Chassis Universe	Estimated total number of chassis in the US	Monthly	Country of origin, port of destination, rail yard, end destination	Motor Carrier Owner/IEP Chassis owner, motor carrier, or IEPs
Chassis at the top 25 ports	Estimated number of chassis surveyed from the top 25 ports	Monthly	Country of origin, port of destination, rail yard, end destination	Motor Carrier Owner/Chassis owner, motor carrier, or IEPs
Available chassis	Estimated number of chassis (loaded or unloaded) surveyed from the top 25 ports	Monthly	Country of origin, port of destination, rail yard, end destination	Motor Carrier Owner/Chassis owner, motor carrier, or IEPs
Unavailable chassis	Estimated number of chassis in dwell time surveyed form the top 25 ports	Monthly	Country of origin, port of destination, rail yard, end destination	Motor Carrier Owner/Chassis owner, motor carrier, or IEPs
Out of service Chassis	Estimated number of chassis that have been identified as not road worthy surveyed from the top 25 ports	Monthly	Country of origin, port of destination, rail yard, end destination	Motor Carrier Owner/Chassis owner, motor carrier, or IEPs

B.2. Describe the procedures for the collection of information.

During the 6-week pilot data collection period, the contractors will set up and conduct exploratory interviews with the IEPs and all other chassis providers, as well as the ports and/or intermodal terminal facilities. The exploratory interviews will help to inform the following:

• Available data to measure marine container and chassis street dwell time and the number of chassis available and out of service, and their source.

• Data structure and attributes.

• Methods and processes for collecting and compiling the data and developing the statistics.

• Any limitations on the dissemination of the data to the public.

• Potential weaknesses and shortcomings of the data for developing the statistics.

• Issues, risks, and potential challenges of using the data to develop the statistics.

• The timeliness and granularity (level of detail) that is estimated will result from use of the data source to develop the statistics.

• Reporting processes and structure

• Disclosure avoidance methodology

Table 3 demonstrates that the steps that the contractors will need to follow for the 6-week pilot data collection.

Table 3: Data Collection Protocol

Wave	Step	Mode	Schedule
1	Set up interviews	Outreach to respondents for an interview	Day 1 -10
2	Interviews	Interview the top 25-35 ports and intermodal terminal facilities, and IEPs and other chassis providers.	Day 5 – 30
3	Develop collection needs	Develop an initial data request based on what is now known as available.	Day 22
4	Set up an initial data collection/test the automated data submission platform	Send request through mail or email	Day 30
5	Reminder to respond	Follow up by telephone	Day 37
Close pilot data collection			Day 42

B.3. Describe methods to maximize response rates.

Participation to respond is voluntary. BTS will work with the ocean carrier industry advocacy and member groups to build trust and cooperation to collect the necessary data to fulfill the law.

B.4. Describe any tests of procedures or methods to be undertaken.

B.4.1 Web-based Questionnaire Usability Testing

Study staff will conduct internal pilot testing of all secure server data collection systems prior to deployment. The pilot test will assess the ease of providing the data, data format, and data consistency between that uploaded and that in the database. These findings will be used to identify potential improvements to the data collection system prior to beginning actual data collection.

B.4.2 Paper Questionnaire Usability Testing

There will not be an option for a paper questionnaire.

1 The Office of Management and Budget has asked that all abstracts address the below eight areas to help them perform their review and to assist the public in more quickly understanding a collection.

1. Whether responding to the collection is mandatory, voluntary, or required to obtain or retain a benefit.

2. Describe the entities who must respond (e.g., class 1 railroads, operators of natural gas transmission lines, etc.).

3. Whether the collection is reporting (indicate if a survey), recordkeeping, and/or disclosure.

4. Indicate collection frequency (e.g., bi-annual, annual, monthly, weekly, as needed).

5. Describe the information that would be reported, maintained in records, or disclosed (e.g., information about a hazardous materials incident including location, type of hazardous material(s), extent of consequences, etc.).

6. Describe who would receive the information - DOT, first responders, the general public, etc.

7. Succinctly describe the purpose of the collection.

8. If a revision, succinctly describe the revision in the Abstract and in question 15 of the Justification document.

OSRA

ICR Section Part B, Page 5