The CFS produces data on the movement of goods in the United States. It provides information on commodities shipped, their value, weight, and mode of transportation, as well as the origin and destination of shipments of commodities from manufacturing mining, wholesale, and selected retail and services establishments.

The Commodity Flow Survey (CFS), undertaken through a partnership between the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), is conducted every 5 years (years ending in "2" and "7") as part of the Economic Census.

Yes. Your participation in the CFS is required by law: Title 13, United States Code. The Economic Census is the major source of facts about the structure and functioning of the nation's economy. It provides essential information for government, business, industry, and the general public.

The results of this survey are in great demand by transportation policy planners and decision makers at the U.S. Department of Transportation, and at the state DOTs as well.

The CFS data help these agencies make informed decisions about our transportation systems and highway infrastructure, including how to allocate the billions of dollars needed to maintain and improve the transportation system in this country.

Participating in the U.S. Census Bureau censuses and surveys is safe. The Census Bureau is required by law to protect your information and keep your responses strictly confidential. It's against the law for the Census Bureau to publicly release your responses in any way that could identify you, your household, or your organization.

All Census Bureau employees take an oath of nondisclosure and are sworn for life to protect all information that could identify individuals or businesses. Disclosing ANY information that could identify you or your family and/or business means 5 years in prison, or $250,000 in fines, or both.

Data is made available about a year to 18 months after collection.

Get access to the data tools through the "Data" tab located at the top of any of our site pages. Just select Data Tools and Apps from the list of data tools. The CFS data are available through the data.census.gov tool. Users can access the most current data from the Commodity Flow Survey site.

For years prior to 2007, the data can be found through the Historical Data website.

The first generation 2012 Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) Public Use Microdata (PUM) file is now available. This new, experimental data product contains information for approximately 4.5 million shipments obtained from businesses included in the 2012 CFS. The PUM file provides access to shipment-level characteristics while continuing to protect the confidentiality of individual business information. PUM file users can create customized tables and build models to track and analyze the movement of commodities.

The CFS covers business establishments in the following industries:

• Mining
• Manufacturing
• Wholesale Trade
• Select Retail and Services

The CFS produces summary statistics on the use of our transportation system at the national, state, and sub-state levels.