This dataset provides a sample of spot ocean freight rates from Drewry Supply Chain Advisors' Container Freight Rate Insight. Two trade routes in the westbound transpacific trade lane are provided.

Weekly origin dwell time data from the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) Rail Service Metrics. The STB began collecting service metrics from railroads in October 2014. As part of their submission to STB, railroads provide "weekly average dwell time at origin for loaded unit train shipments sorted by grain, coal, automotive, crude oil, ethanol, and all other unit trains. For the purposes of this data element, dwell time refers to the time period from release of a unit train at origin or interchange location until actual movement by the receiving carrier. The data is to be reported by the receiving carrier."

Daily Brent Crude Oil Spot Prices (FOB in dollars per barrel) from the Energy Information Administration

This data shows the weekly cost indices of transporting grain by each mode: truck, rail, barge, and ocean-going vessels. The base of each index (set to 100) is the average of monthly costs in the year 2000. For truck, the base rate is $1.49 per gallon. For unit train, the base rate is $1,815.15 per railcar, including the tariff and fuel surcharges (weekly changes reflect the month tariff rate plus fuel surcharge, and weekly secondary railcar market bids). For shuttle train, the base rate is $2,338.28 per railcar, including the tariff and fuel surcharges (weekly changes reflect the month tariff rate plus fuel surcharge, and weekly secondary railcar market bids). For barge, the base rate is 180 and is based on Illinois River barge rates (see Downbound Grain Barge Rates dataset for more information). For the Gulf-to-Japan ocean route, the base rate is $22.36/metric ton. For the Pacific Northwest-to-Japan ocean route, the base rate is $14.10/metric ton.

A "spread" can have multiple meanings, but it generally implies a difference between two comparable measures. These can be differences across space, across time, or across anything with a similar attribute. For example, in the stock market, there is a spread between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept.

In this dataset, spread refers to differences in prices between two locations, an origin (e.g., Illinois, Iowa, etc.) and a destination (e.g., Louisiana Gulf, Pacific Northwest, etc.). Mathematically, it is the destination price minus the origin price.

Price spreads are closely linked to transportation. They tend to reflect the costs of moving goods from one point to another, all else constant. Fluctuations in spreads can change the flow of goods (where it may be more profitable to ship to a different location), as well as indicate changes in transportation availability (e.g., disruptions). For more information on how price spreads are linked to transportation, see the story, "Grain Prices, Basis, and Transportation" (https://agtransport.usda.gov/stories/s/sjmk-tkh6).

This is one of three companion datasets. The other two are grain prices (https://agtransport.usda.gov/d/g92w-8cn7) and grain basis (https://agtransport.usda.gov/d/v85y-3hep). These datasets are separate, because the coverage lengths differ and missing values are removed (e.g., there needs to be a cash price and a futures price to have a basis price, and there needs to be both an origin and a destination to have a price spread).

The origin and destination prices come from the grain prices dataset.

The dataset provides agricultural import and export commodities by U.S. port of entry or exit.

This dataset provides weekly information on the number, location, direction, and type of barges transiting the following three major points: (1) the last lock on the Mississippi River, Mississippi Locks 27 (called "Miss Locks 27" in the dataset); (2) the last lock on the Ohio River, Olmsted Locks and Dam ; and (3) the last lock on the Arkansas River, Arkansas River Lock and Dam 1 (called "Ark Lock 1" in the dataset). (Olmsted locks replaced Ohio Locks 52 beginning in November 2018.)

The data offers insight on barge movements over time. One variable is "direction", which consists of upbound ("Up") and downbound ("Down"). It also offers insight on the "type" of traffic (e.g., empty barges, loaded barges, grain barges, and non-grain barges). More specifically, upbound data includes the number of empty barges and the number of loaded (any commodity) barges transiting the locking system. Downbound data includes the number of empty barges, the number of grain barges (loaded), and the number of non-grain (loaded) barges. That is, grain and non-grain sum to total loaded for downbound traffic. will Due to data availability, prior to 10/15/2000, downbound data includes just empty and loaded counts.

A similar dataset, "Downbound Barge Grain Movements (Tons)," contains information on the tonnage (and commodity) of grain moving by barge down the locking system: https://agtransport.usda.gov/d/n4pw-9ygw/.

Data is collected weekly from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Lock Performance Monitoring System.

This dataset contains the annual volumes of major commodities transported by barge, measured in tons. The data is from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Waterborne Commerce Statistics.

Average bunker fuel prices ($/metric ton) for Intermediate Fuel Oil (IFO) 380CST, IFO 180CST, Marine Gas, and Very Low Sulfur Fuel Oil (VLSFO) across 20 major global bunkering locations.

Fuel surcharge data is collected monthly from individual railroad websites. Fuel surcharges apply per mile per car. They are typically billed on top of tariff rates, but note that tariff- and contract-specific fuel surcharges may differ from the reported surcharge. For instance, BNSF publishes three separate fuel surcharge series, based on different strike prices. Their $1.25 strike price was in effect on some grain tariffs prior to March 2011, when the $2.50 strike price calculation went into effect. In February 2015, BNSF removed the fuel surcharge from its grain tariffs. In January 2021, BNSF added the fuel surcharge back to its grain tariffs at the $3.25 strike price. All three series are included in this dataset.