Category Archives: Cargo

Seaborne Freight

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SeaborneFreight

The most energy efficient means of moving freight is by moving it over water. The increase in global trade over the last few decades and particularly the increase in moving raw materials long distances as part of the overall manufacturing process has meant a significant rise in seaborne freight. The chart we offer here shows that increase by charting the tonnage moved annually by sea, broken into three categories: (1) tonnage moved in shipping containers, (2) movements of oil and gas, and (3) movements of cargo in bulk which includes all those things which may be moved in a dry cargo container ship. This final category is further broken down into the five major bulk products and all other bulk. The five major bulk products are iron ore, grain, coal, phosphates and bauxite.

The overall trajectory of growth is clear. What may not be quite as clear is the growth in how much of that freight is moved in container ships, the category shown in blue at the bottom of each bar. The growth of containerized freight movements has been the most striking. Over the period 1990 to 2012 the movement of containerized freight, when measured in tons moved, increased by 16% per year For those interested in more on container shipping, here’s a link to an earlier post we did covering the container ship market.

Today’s market size is the number of tons of freight moved by sea in 2000 and 2012. Of these totals, the percentage of freight moved in container ships, and thus, for the most part, finished goods as opposed to raw materials, was 10% in 2000 and 16% in 2012.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2000 and 2012
Market size: 5,984 and 9,297 million tons respectively
Source: “Figure 1.2 International Seaborne Trade, by Cargo Type, Selected Years, 1980-2012,” Review of Maritime Transportation 2012, United National Conference on Trade and Development, 2013, page 9, available online here.
Original source: United Nations
Posted on August 19, 2013

Container Ships

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The sharp rise in global trade over the last decades has been a boon to the shipping industry. The number of large container ships, which move so much of the increased quantity of partially and/or fully finished products being traded internationally, has grown and that growth is anticipated to continue through 2016 according to the World Shipping Council. The size of those ships is also on the rise.

The capacity of container ships—referred to in the trade as cellular vessels as they are designed to efficiently load and store freight containers one on top of the other with vertical braces at the four corners—is measured in terms of twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), or the number of twenty-foot containers that the vessel can carry (these containers measure 20′ x 8′ x 8’6″). In the year 2000, the world fleet of container ships was primarily made up of ships with a capacity of 1,000 or fewer TEUs. Vessels this size made up approximately three-quarters of the world fleet. In 2012, they represented less than 30% of the fleet with much larger vessels dominating the trade. While the number of ships rose by only 2.8% between 2000 and 2012, the fleet’s carrying capacity almost tripled, rising 182%. So, the average per container ship capacity went from 1,200 TEUs in 2000 to 3,295 in 2012.

Today’s market size is the number and carrying capacity of cellular shipping vessels worldwide in 2000, in 2012, and a projection for where this fleet will stand in 2016.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2000, 2012, 2016
Market size: Number of ships respectively: 4,828; 4,961 and 5,433
Market size: Carrying Capacity in million TEUs: 5.8; 16.34 and 19.83
Source: “Container Ship Types,” GlobalSecurity.org, July 7, 2011, available online here. “Cellular Fleet Forecast,” Alphaliner, February 2013, available online here.
Original source: Alphaliner
Posted on February 21, 2013

Express Delivery Market

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The Internet has not done away entirely with the need to ship documents across the globe and quickly. Today we look at the express delivery industry which provides expedited delivery of documents and parcels almost anywhere on earth. Major players in this industry include familiar names like DHL, FedEx, and UPS, although national postal services also have a role in this business.

The market size presented below is the estimated total sales revenue generated by the express delivery industry in 2008.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2008
Market size: $175 billion
Source: “Facts & Figures on Express Industry,” a report made available online, here, by The European Express Association.
Original source: Oxford Economics
Posted on October 24, 2011

Trucking, General Freight

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General freight truckingToday we look at the revenues generated by general freight trucking firms and specifically, those with employees. Today’s market size does not include the revenues generated by independent truckers who are categorized as nonemployers. The graph charts estimated revenues from 2001 through 2009 and presents them for local freight movements as well as long-distance.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2001 and 2009
Market size: $107.32 billion and $117.58 billion respectively
Source: “Table 2.1 Transportation and Warehousing (NAICS 48, 49) – Estimated Revenue for Employer Firms: 2001 through 2009,” Service Annual Survey 2009, page 9, issued in February 2011 and available online here.
Original source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S. Census Bureau
Posted on September 15, 2011

Freight by Rail

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Moving large volumes of freight over long distances is an energy intensive proposal and something we do very regularly these days. In fact, with the rise of globalization humanity is now moving more over greater distances than ever before. Moving cargo by rail is the second most efficient means of transporting it—the first being transport over water. Coal is the commodity whose movement on railroads accounts for the largest percentage of tonnage moved by Class I Railroad operators in the United States (44%) and the largest percentage of gross revenue, when divided out by commodity type, for these operators (24%).

Today’s market size is the tonnage carried by U.S. Class I Railroads in 2010 and the value of the corresponding gross revenue earned for their transportation. The revenue number does not adjust for such things as incentive rebates offered by the railroad operators. U.S. Class I Railroads in 2010 were the following: BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Grand Trunk Corporation, Kansas City Southern Railway, Norfolk Southern Combined Railroad Subsidiaries, Soo Line Corporation, and Union Pacific Railroad.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2010
Market size: 1.85 billion tons and $57.44 billion in gross revenues
Source: “Class I Railroad Statistics,” June 17, 2011, a report produced by the Policy and Economics Department of the Association of American Railroads. Here is a link to the report.
Original source: Association of American Railroads

Space Shuttle Services

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Photo from NASA

Today’s market size is a bit of an exercise in guessing the low-end, ballpark size of a market for space shuttle services for the coming few years. We base this estimate on three things: (1) NASA’s labor commitments to the International Space Station (ISS) between 2011 and 2017, (2) the per astronaut cost to NASA of a ride to and from the ISS on the Russian Soyuz Spacecraft, and (3) a contract signed by NASA to contract with SpaceX, a private company, to provide cargo delivery services to the ISS. Clearly, this simple estimate is only an approximation of the potential of this market. Defined more broadly—to include, for example, what is often called space tourism—the market size in coming years is much larger.

What we present here is the minimum market size for shuttle services to the ISS based on NASA demand that grows out of the United State’s closing down of its own Shuttle Program.

Happy final journey, Shuttle Endeavor!

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2012—2017
Market size: $3.18 Billion
Source: “NASA’s Cost to Hitch a Ride on Russian Rocket Rises,” CFNews13.com, March 15, 2011, available online here. “How Many Astronauts Does NASA Need?” Universe Today, December 7, 2010, available online here. “The Shuttle Program Is Winding Down—What Next?” PCWorld, May 16, 2011, available online here. Finally, the photo used above is from NASA’s site here.

Barges

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Our thoughts turn to those living along the nation’s riverways as news of rising waters and extensive flooding are coming in from all over the Midwest and East Coast. The inland and intercoastal waterway as an important transportation highway then comes to mind, a highway on which hundreds of millions of tons of cargo move annually valued at over $75 billion. Much of this cargo is moved in barges—non-self-propelled vessels—much like rail cars for the waterway system. Barges are tied together and moved through the system by tow boats. Barges are the most energy efficient way to move things. On a ton-mile per gallon basis, (miles per gallon carrying one ton of cargo) trucks get 155 miles, rail transport gets 413 miles and inland towing gets 576 miles per gallon.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2008
Market size: 32,052 barges
Source: “TABLE 2: Summary of the United States Flag Passenger and Cargo Vessels Operating or Availalble for Operation by Year,” Waterborne Transportation of the United States, November 16, 2009, available online here. Energy costs per mode of transportation data comes from a report put out by the Kentucky Association of Riverports, available online here. Another Army Corp of Enginners report, titled Inland Waterway Navigation, Value to the Nation, highlights many interesting facts about the inland waterway, including how water transportation compares with other modes in terms of efficiency. It is available online here.
Original source: U.S. Army Corp of Engineers