~ 

~ 'SmartWay· 

Transport Partnership 

U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

www.epa.gov/ smartway 

~ 

ft EA~ United States Environmental Protection ,..,,. Agency 

2018 SmartWay Logistics Company 

Partner Tool: 

Technical Documentation 

U.S. Version 2.0.17 (Data Year 2017) 
~ 

~'SmartWay· 

Transport Partnership 

U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

ft EA~ United States .. ~ Environmental Protection "1111,,. Agency 

2018 SmartWay Logistics Company 

Partner Tool: 

Technical Documentation 

U.S.Version 2.0.17 (Data Year 2017) 

Transportation and Climate Division 

Offce of Transportation and Air Quality 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

Offce of Transportation and Air Quality 

EPA-420-B-18-030 

July 2018 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.0 Overview 

The SmartWay Logistics Tool is intended to help logistics companies estimate and 

assess their carbon, PM, and NOx emission performance levels as well as their total 

emissions associated with goods movement in the U.S. freight rail, barge, air and 

trucking sectors.

1 

The new SmartWay truck, air and barge carrier emissions performance data that EPA 

has included in the Tool, along with publicly available Class I rail data, will allow logistics 

companies to generate more accurate emissions performance estimates and mass 

emissions inventories. The Tool will allow logistics companies to track their freightrelated emissions performance from year to year, and also help optimize their emissions 

performance by allowing them to better estimate the emissions impact of individual 

carriers. 

2.0 Tool Inputs and Calculations 

After logistics companies enter their company and contact information, they provide 

basic information about each company they operate, including name, SCAC, MCN, 

NSC, and US DOT Number. Logistics companies then identify each carrier that they 

use for each logistics business unit. Next, users proceed to input activity data for each 

carrier specified. 

Emission Inventory and Performance Metric Calculations 

After inputting the required mileage and/or ton-mile information for each carrier used, 

the Tool will calculate the associated total mass emissions (i.e., an emissions inventory) 

based on the mileage-related activity data entered, as well as various emission 

performance metrics (e.g., composite grams/mile and grams/ton-mile – see below). The 

Tool offers two options for calculating mass emissions, based on either the annual 

mileage or ton-mileage data that logistics companies enter for each carrier. We 

encourage logistics companies to select the unit of activity data that is most appropriate 

for characterizing each carrier type (e.g., use grams per mile for TL and grams per tonmile for LTL, package, and multimodal / rail). 

The emissions inventory for each carrier/mode combination displayed on the 

Emissions Summary, Carrier Performance, and SmartWay Category Details

screens is calculated by multiplying the appropriate unit of activity data (i.e., truck, air or 

barge miles, railcar-miles, or ton-miles) by the corresponding carrier emissions 

performance data. To calculate composite, business unit-wide emissions performance 

metrics on the Carrier Performance screen (i.e., overall g/mile and g/ton-mile 

performance), the Tool weights the emissions performance of each of the logistics 

1 While this Tool is primarily focused on freight movements in the U.S. rail, air, barge and trucking freight sectors, 

SmartWay anticipates providing performance data for ocean-going marine freight in the future as well. 

3 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

business unit’s carriers by the percentage of the business unit’s overall freight activity 

that the carrier moves. An example composite performance calculation is provided 

below. 

Table 1. Example Compositing Calculation 

CO2 g/mi Mi/yr Weighting Factor Weighted CO2 g/mi 

Carrier 1 1,700 2,000,000 0.667 1,134 (0.667 x 1,700) 

Carrier 2 1,500 1,000,000 0.333 500 (0.333 x 1,500) 

Weighted composite g/mi 1,633 (1,134 + 500) 

This compositing process proceeds in an identical fashion for ton-miles. 

Note that the composite emissions performance values are the numbers that will 

be used to place logistics partners into performance bins within the logistics 

category. 

Ton-Mile Calculation 

Correctly calculating Ton-Miles is critically important for the accurate determination of 

your carbon foot-print. You can calculate your business unit’s ton-miles as follows. 

Determine the ton-miles hauled per year attributable to each carrier. A ton-mile is one 

ton moving one mile. DO NOT ESTIMATE TON-MILES BY SIMPLY MULTIPLYING 

TOTAL MILES BY TOTAL TONS - this calculation effectively assumes your entire 

tonnage is transported on EACH AND EVERY truck, railcar, aircraft, or barge, and will 

clearly overstate your ton-miles. 

Many companies track their ton-miles and can report them directly without further 

calculation. For example, logistics company systems are typically set up to associate a 

payload with the mileage traveled on each trip by carrier, and are then summed at the 

end of the year. If such information is not available, there are two ways to calculate tonmiles: 

1) Companies can determine their average payload per carrier, multiply the average 

payload by the total miles per carrier, and sum the results for all carriers for the 

reporting year; or 

(total miles per carrier x total tons per carrier) 

2) Set Ton-miles per carrier = ____________________________________ 

total # of trips per carrier 

NOTE: Empty miles are not included in the ton-mile calculation, but the fuel used to 

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move those empty miles are included in the overall g/ton-mile calculations. 

To check your estimate, divide ton-miles by miles. The result is your fleet-average 

payload. If this number is not reasonable, please check your calculations. 

Carrier Emissions Performance Data 

The current SmartWay program provides CO2, NOx and PM gram per mile and gram 

per ton-mile emission factors for truck, barge, air, and rail freight transport providers. 

These data are provided in the SmartWayCarrierData2017.xls file, which should be 

downloaded to the user’s computer using the appropriate button on the Tool’s Home 

page. Performance data for truck, barge, air,2 and multimodal partners correspond to 

data submittals for the 2017 calendar year, while current Logistics partner performance 

may correspond to submittals for 2016, depending on whether the 2017 data year 

performance information for logistics companies has been released at the time of tool 

download. (Within a given data year, logistics tools are released after the multimodal 

tool.) Performance for Rail companies are modal averages, based on publicly available 

R-1 data. 

Truck Carrier Performance 

Truck carrier performance data utilized by the Logistics Tool is based on 2017 Truck 

Partner Tool submittals. Performance data includes g/mile and g/ton-mile for each truck 

carrier by SmartWay Category, with a top ranking indicating the top 20 percent 

performance level for a given pollutant/performance category. Note that g/mile and 

g/ton-mile values represent midpoints for the appropriate SmartWay Category, rather 

than exact performance levels for a given carrier. Truck SmartWay Categories include: 

• TL Dry Van 

• LTL Dry Van 

• Refrigerated 

• Flatbed 

• Tanker 

• Dray 

• Heavy/Bulk 

• Package 

• Auto Carrier 

• Moving 

• Specialized 

• Mixed 

• Expedited 

The following provides an overview of the truck carrier ranking process used to estimate 

the carrier-specific performance bins. 

2 As of 5-25-2018 no air carrier data had been approved by SmartWay. 

5 
 

 

 

 

Truck Performance Ranking 

In the SmartWay Truck Tool, data is collected at the individual company fleet level. 

Fleets are characterized by A.) business type: for-hire or private, B.) operational type: 

truckload/expedited, less than truckload, dray, package delivery, or expedited, and C.) 

equipment type: dry van, refrigerated van, flatbed, tanker, heavy/bulk, chassis 

(container), auto carrier, moving, utility, or specialized (e.g., hopper, livestock, other). 

The possible categories are shown below. 

For-Hire 

Dry Van Reefer Flatbed Tanker Chassis Heavy/Bulk Auto Carrier Moving Specialized 

TL 

LTL 

PD 

Expedited 

Dray 

Private 

Dry Van Reefer Flatbed Tanker Chassis Heavy/Bulk Auto Carrier Moving Specialized 

TL 

LTL 

PD 

Expedited 

Dray 

Note that while Specialized fleets have disparate operations/equipment types and thus 

do not compare well, they are also unlikely to compete with one another, so it was 

deemed acceptable to aggregate these disparate fleets into one category. 

For-hire and private fleets are combined in SmartWay categories. There are relatively 

few private fleets compared to for-hire fleets. Because owners of private fleets generally 

hire their own fleets exclusively, it was determined that ranking for-hire and private 

fleets together would not be detrimental to for-hire fleets, and the simplicity of one forhire and private category outweighed the benefits of listing fleets separately. Ranking 

for-hire and private separately would have doubled the number of categories. Therefore 

the fleets can thus be categorized as shown below. 

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w 

For Hire / Private 

Dry Van Reefer Flatbed Tanker Chassis Heavy/Bulk Auto Carrier Moving Specialized 

TL 

LTL 

PD 

Expedited 

Dray 

To be categorized in a particular category, a fleet must have at least 75% of its 

operations by mileage in a single category, otherwise it is classified as a “Mixed” fleet. 

Fleets could be mixed via their operational or equipment type. Fleets are generally 

segregated by their operational type, but some mixing does occur via equipment type, 

especially with smaller carriers that do not differentiate their fleet. Fleets that do not 

have 75% of their operations in a specific category are placed in the Mixed category. 

Individual fleets were then placed into categories. The following graphic illustrates the 

population of the various categories. The darker the shade of the intersection, the 

higher the number of fleets in that category. 

Dry 

Van 

Reefer Flatbed Tanker Chassis Heavy 

/Bulk 

Auto 

Carrier 

Moving Specialized Mixed 

TL 

LTL 

PD 

Expedited 

Dray 

Mixed 

SmartWay then looked at combining categories that exhibited similar characteristics for 

simplification purposes. One prerequisite was that there needed to be a minimum 

number of fleets in each category. SmartWay determined that a category needed a 

minimum of 25 fleets to be created. It was also determined that dry van and chassis 

(intermodal container) functioned primarily as dry van transport, so these categories 

were combined. While most refrigerated carriers were truckload, a few less than 

truckload refrigerated fleets exist, so these two categories were combined. A similar 

situation was identified with flatbed, and flatbed truckload and less than truckload were 

combined. Although no less than truckload tanker fleets were identified, tanker truckload 

and less than truckload were combined into one category so that no intersections would 

be left undefined. Similar aggregations were made for the remaining, less common body 

types including heavy/bulk, auto carrier, moving and specialized. All dray was collapsed 

into one category, and package delivery was restricted to dry van body types. Any fleet 

that had mixed operation and/or mixed equipment was placed into a single mixed 

category. Finally, logistics and multimodal fleets were also included and retained as 

unique categories. 

7 
 

 

 

 

 

 

TRUCK 

Dray 

Truckload 

Expedited 

LTL 

Package 

Mixed 

Rail 

Dry Van 

& Cha.ssis 

Truckload DrvVan 

S Performance Levels 

Expedited 

5 Performance Levels 

Reefer 

Reefer 

Flatbed Tanker 

Heavy 

&Bulk 

Single Modal Average for All Rail 

Auto 

carrier Moving 

Performance Performance 

Levels Levds 

(No company differentiation allowed per Association of American Railroads) 

- Company Specific Dat a 

Company Specific Data 

I Logistics 5 Performance Levels 

~ Emission Factor Dat a Only 

- (No 5 Performance Level Ranking) 

M arine To Be Determined 

(Proposed availability in 2016 calendar year) 

Specialized 

& Utility 

Specialized 

& Utility 

5 

Mixed 

The final performance categories for the 2017 Data Year are illustrated below. The solid 

colors indicate how operation and equipment type assignments vary by performance 

category. For example, if 75% or more of a fleet’s mileage is associated with reefer 

trucks, the fleet is assigned to the Reefer category regardless of the operation 

percentage across truckload, expedited, LTL, and package categories. However, the 

Reefer category assignment is overridden if the operation category is greater than or 

equal to 75% dray, logistics, or multimodal. Similar assignment rules apply to flatbed, 

tanker, heavy/bulk, auto carrier, moving, and specialized equipment types. Only the Dry 

Van/Chassis equipment category is subdivided by the truckload, expedited, LTL, and 

package operation categories, meaning that the 75% threshold must be met for both 

equipment and operation type in these cases. All other equipment/operation type 

percentage distributions are assigned to the Mixed category. 

Figure 1. SmartWay Carrier Categories and Data Specificity – 2017 Calendar Year 

It is possible that SmartWay will expand these categories based on in-use experience or 

as a result of further data analysis, and/or requests from industry. 

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Companies within a category have been ranked from lowest emission factor (best) to 

highest emission factor (worst) for each of the following metrics: CO2 g/mile, CO2 g/tonmile, NOx g/mile, NOx g/ton-mile, PM10 g/mile and PM10 g/ton-mile. Companies within 

a category were then separated into five groups (rankings) such that an equal number 

of companies were in each. Each ranking category thus represents a range of emission 

factors. This range, and associated cutpoints (transition points from one ranking 

category to the next) were then modified so that each bin had an equal range, and the 

new ranking category cutpoints remained as close to the originals as possible. The new 

range cutpoint is displayed as a number with significant digits appropriate to emission 

factors in that category. The midpoint of the range is used as the emission factor for all 

companies in a ranking category. 

It would be simpler and more straightforward to use company-specific emission factors, 

however the trucking industry expressed concern with revealing exact data that could 

be used to back-calculate mile per gallon numbers. The above described methodology 

prevents a determination of an exact mpg figure, while at the same time attributing an 

emission factor much more exact than a modal default number. Given the large number 

of trucking companies, and thus opportunity for companies to be very close to each 

other in performance (for example 0.001 g/mile of CO2), SmartWay believes it is 

acceptable and appropriate to break truck fleets into 5 performance rankings. The table 

below illustrates the ranking results for the For Hire/Private Truckload/Expedited Dry 

Van/Container category, using 2010 truck partner data. 

The table below illustrates the ranges in the For Hire/Private Truckload/Expedited Dry 

Van SmartWay Category, using 2013 Truck Partner data as an example. 

Table 2. Emission Factor Ranges for One Performance Category (2013 Data) 

For-Hire/Private Truckload/ Dry Van CO2 g/mile 

Group

ID 

Fleets 

Per Bin 

Grams Per 

Mile Min 

Grams Per 

Mile Max 

Grams Per 

Mile Avg 

Grams Per Mile 

Midpoint 

Grams Per 

Mile Std Dev 

1 186 944 1,549 1,452 1,500 118 

2 227 1,551 1,650 1,601 1,600 28 

3 194 1,651 1,749 1,692 1,700 29 

4 140 1,751 1,848 1,798 1,800 29 

5 115 1,851 5,090 2,010 1,900 359 

Similar tables were developed for all categories. The midpoint of each ranking category 

is the data that a logistics company will download into their SmartWay Logistics Tool to 

represent the emission performance of a specific carrier fleet that is in the associated 

rank category. Once the categories and ranks have been established, the carrier fleets 

of any new companies joining SmartWay will fall into one of the predefined 

categories/ranks. SmartWay expects to update the category/ranks structure 

approximately every three years. 

9 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Non-SmartWay performance metrics were calculated by taking the standard 

performance rank range delta (min/max) for each ranking category, and using the delta 

to calculate a non-SmartWay carrier midpoint for each category. This midpoint was the 

midpoint for Rank 5 plus the standard range delta. For example, if the Rank 5 midpoint 

was 10.5 and the Ranking Categories standard delta was 1, then the non-SmartWay 

midpoint was calculated to be 11.5. Once the non-SmartWay midpoints for each 

pollutant were calculated for all SmartWay Categories, the non-SmartWay performance 

metric was calculated by using the average value of these mid-points, weighted by the 

number of fleets in each category. This approach does not require the shipper to identify 

the appropriate SmartWay Category for their Non-SmartWay carrier(s), which they may 

not know, while still ensuring that the performance of their non-SmartWay carriers 

reflects the distribution of the different categories within the truck population. 

Depending upon the type of data available for a given carrier, the user may input tonmiles or miles, and rely on carrier data to back-calculate the other value. For example, 

providing ton-miles and average payload allows the tool to estimate total miles, by 

dividing the former by the latter. Alternatively, freight density and cargo volume 

utilization information can also be used to estimate average payloads. For this reason, 

average payload and volume information are provided for each carrier in the 

SmartWayCarrierData2017.xls file.3 For Non-SmartWay truck carriers, the values for 

average payload (18.7 tons) and average volume (3,260 cubic feet) were derived from 

the average values for all Truck Partners (2011 data), weighted by miles. 

Logistics and Multimodal Carrier Performance 

Logistic and multimodal carriers have their own performance bins based on the carrier 

tool submittals for the most recent available calendar year (2016 for logistics, and 2017 

for multimodal). Multimodal carrier categories are also differentiated by mode 

combinations, including Surface;4 Surface-Air; Surface-Marine; and Surface-Air-Marine. 

Multimodal composite fleets with 10% or more of their ton-miles coming from air or 

marine carriers are designated Surface-Air/Marine.5 Non-SmartWay carrier performance 

for these SmartWay Categories is estimated in the same way as is done for nonSmartWay Truck carriers (i.e., averaging the bin midpoints to calculate a fleet average 

value). 

If a composite fleet does not meet the above Multimodal designation criteria, and if it 

has 75% of its ton-miles derived from one or more Logistics component fleets, then the 

composite fleet is binned as a Logistics fleet. Alternatively, if the composite fleet does 

not meet either of the two above criteria, then it is binned as a Truck fleet. 

3 The Logistics Tool also calculates average payload and average volume for each logistics fleet defined by the user, 

weighting carrier payloads and volumes by the miles assigned on the Tool Activity screen. The resulting average 

payload and volume figures will be included in subsequent updates to the SmartWay Carrier file for use by Shippers 

and Logistics companies.

4 Surface multimodal carriers utilize road and rail modes. 

5 Air and/or marine carriers may be utilized directly by the multimodal carrier, or may be utilized indirectly by 

logistics business units hired by the multimodal carrier. 

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Air and Barge Carrier Performance 

Air and barge carriers have agreed to have their actual emissions results made public, 

and, barge performance values used in the Logistics Tool are carrier-specific. The gram 

per mile performance values for barge carriers correspond to individual barge (nautical) 

miles travelled, rather than miles travelled by a string of barges or the associated tug(s). 

Non-SmartWay barge carrier gram per mile and gram per ton-mile performance is set to 

be 25% higher than the worst performing SmartWay barge carrier. 

Since no air carrier data submittals have been approved as of this date, performance 

levels for non-SmartWay air freight are based on publicly available data. First upper 

bound estimates for grams of CO2 per ton-mile were obtained for short and long-haul air 

freight (~4,236 g/t-mi and ~1,461 g/t-mi, respectively).6,7 Values for CO2 g/mile were 

calculated by multiplying the g/t-mi value by an average cargo payload value of 22.9 

short tons. The average payload value was estimated by dividing total air freight 

tonnage in 2012 (15M tons)8 by the total number of cargo departures in the same year 

(654,956 LTOs).9 Corresponding performance metrics for NOx and PM10 were based on 

the ratio of these pollutants to CO2 from the EDMS 5.1.4.1 model (0.009 for NOx and 

0.000059 for PM10).10 The resulting performance metrics are shown in Table 3 below. 

An average cargo volume estimate was also obtained for inclusion in the SmartWay 

carrier data file based on the volume for a typical freight aircraft, the Boeing 747 200 

series (5,123 cubic feet).11 

Table 3. Assumed Performance Metrics for Non-SmartWay Air Carriers 

CO2/tmi CO2/mi NOx/mi NOx/tmi PM/mi PM/tmi 

Short-haul 4,236 96,998 873.2713 38.1341 5.743247 0.250797 

Long-haul 1,461 33,448 301.1280 13.1497 1.980430 0.086482 

6 Short haul air freight assumed to be less than 3,000 miles, covering most domestic air routes in the U.S. 

7 Estimates from Figure 8.6 in Sims R., R. Schaeffer, F. Creutzig, X. Cruz-Núñez, M. D’Agosto, D. Dimitriu, M. J. 

Figueroa Meza, L. Fulton, S. Kobayashi, O. Lah, A. McKinnon, P. Newman, M. Ouyang, J. J. Schauer, D. Sperling, 

and G. Tiwari, 2014: Transport. In: Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working 

Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Edenhofer, O., R. 

Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona, E. Farahani, S. Kadner, K. Seyboth, A. Adler, I. Baum, S. Brunner, P. Eickemeier, B. 

Kriemann, J. Savolainen, S. Schlömer, C. von Stechow, T. Zwickel and J.C. Minx (eds.)]. Cambridge University 

Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.

8 U.S. DOT Bureau of Transportaion Statistics, Freight Facts and Figures 2013. 

http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/freight_analysis/nat_freight_stats/docs/13factsfigures/pdfs/fff2013_highres.pdf 

. Accessed 5-25-18. 9 U.S. DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S. Air Carrier Traffic Statistics.: 

https://www.transtats.bts.gov/TRAFFIC/. Accessed 5-25-18. 10 EDMS outputs for take-off mode, assumed to be equal to cruising mode. (Cruise emissions are not output by 

EDMS). Take-off mode emission rates were averaged across all aircraft/engine combinations in the Heavy (Max 

Takeoff Weight over 255,000 lbs) and Large (Max Takeoff Weight 41,001 to 255,000 lbs) weight classes.

11 Aircraft Cargo Plane Specifications. http://www.airgroup.com/standalone.php?action=air_spec. Accessed 5-25-

18. 

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Rail Carrier Performance 

All rail carriers are assumed to have the same industry modal average performance 

levels in the Logistics Tool, regardless of Partnership status. Rail carrier performance 

data are collected and displayed in the Logistics Tool at the industry average level 

derived from Class 1 rail company data. Gram per ton-mile factors were determined by 

dividing total fuel use by total ton-miles and multiplied by a rail diesel CO2 factor (10,084 

g CO2/gal diesel fuel), from publicly available data submitted in the 2010 railroad R-1 

reports to the Department of Transportation. 2010 R-1 data was also used to obtain 

total railcar-miles per year for all Class 1 carriers, in order to estimate gram per railcarmile factors. Industry average values are currently assumed for all rail carriers in the 

carrier data file. Specific rail companies may have an opportunity to provide companyspecific data in the future. The R-1 data and corresponding CO2 performance data are 

presented in Table 4 below. 

Table 4. Rail Carrier Performance Metric Calculation Inputs and Results (2010 R-1 

Data) 

Rail Company 

Gal/Yr

(‘000)Sch.

750 Line 4 

Freight TonMi/Yr (‘000)

Sch .755 line 

110 

Railcar-Mi/Yr

(‘000) Sch.

755 sum of 

lines 30, 46, 

64 & 82 

g CO2/railcarmile g CO2/short

ton-mile 

BNSF Railway 1,295,147 646,549,059 11,230,994 1,163 20.20 

CSX Transportation 490,050 230,507,431 4,720,293 1,047 21.44 

Grand Trunk 88,290 50,586,328 1,206,818 738 17.60 

Kansas City Southern 62,354 31,025,588 609,929 1,031 20.76 

Norfolk Southern* 440,159 183,104,320 4,081,893 1,087 24.24 

Soo Line 65,530 33,473,544 771,033 857 19.74 

Union Pacific 1,063,201 525,297,747 10,336,081 1,037 20.41 

Total – Industry

Average 

3,504,731 1,700,544,017 32,957,041 1,072 20.78 

* and combined subsidiaries 

NOx and PM emission factors for rail carriers are based on industry averages. Freight 

rail gCO2/ton-mile factors were developed using 2008 inventory data from EPA's 

Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks (1990-2008),12 which is based 

on Class I rail fuel consumption data from the Association of American Railroads and 

estimates of Class II and III rail fuel consumption by the American Short Line and 

Regional Railroad Association. This emissions inventory was divided by the rail ton-mile 

data (2007) presented in Table 1-46b in the Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS) 

12 U.S. EPA, 2010. Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990 – 2008, Washington DC (EPA 

430-R-10-006). Total freight rail GHG emissions are presented in Table A-110 of the inventory. Table 10 in this 

document presents CO2-only data. In order to isolate the CO2-only emissions data, we accessed spreadsheets that are 

not publicly available. 

12 
 

 

 

 

 

 

National Transportation Statistics,

13 which is intended to encompass all freight rail tonmiles, including Classes I, II, and III. 

The freight rail g NOx/ton-mile and g PM2.5/ton-mile factors were developed with 2010 

inventory data from Tables 3-82 and 3-83, respectively, in EPA’s 2008 Regulatory 

Impact Analysis for a locomotive diesel engine rule.

14 This inventory data represents 

2010 emission projections for all U.S. rail except for passenger and commuter rail (i.e., 

large line-haul, large switch, and small railroads), which EPA determined would very 

closely align with the freight rail sector. This emissions inventory data was then divided 

by the 2007 R-1 ton-mile data. 

EPA developed the industry average freight rail g/mile factors by using 2008 railcar 

mileage data from lines 15 through 81 of R-1 forms that Class I railroad companies 

submitted to the Surface Transportation Board.

15 The railcar miles were then converted 

into “truck-equivalent” railcar miles by estimating the average volume capacity of Class I 

railcars and dividing that by an average freight truck volume capacity. This results in a 

very crude estimate that does not take into consideration the utilized volume of railcars 

or the comparative freight truck, but EPA determined that this was the best available 

data and method to estimate modal average truck-equivalent railcar miles. 

To estimate the industry average volume capacity of Class I railcars, the railcar miles 

reported by each company for each railcar type in their respective 2008 R-1 reports 

(lines 15-81) were multiplied by the volume-per-railcar assumptions in Table 8 below to 

obtain total Class I TEU-miles. EPA then divided the total railcar TEU-miles by the total 

railcar miles to estimate the industry average railcar volume capacity. Finally EPA 

divided this average railcar volume capacity (3.92) by the average freight truck volume 

capacity (2.78 TEUs) to develop the conversion factor - 1.41 railcar-miles-to-truck-miles. 

EPA developed the NOx and PM emission estimates using the average 2010 locomotive 

g PM10/gal and g NOx/gal factors from EPA's 2009 Technical Highlights: Emissions 

Factors for Locomotives (see Tables 5 and 6, respectively).16 To calculate g PM2.5/gal, 

we assumed 95% of PM10 is PM2.5, which we determined was a good approximation of 

the share of overall PM10 emissions represented by particulate matter that is 2.5 

micrometers in diameter or smaller. 

Table 5 below presents the industry-average freight rail NOx and PM emissions factors 

in the tool and Table 6 presents the key underlying data. 

13 U.S. DOT, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 2009. 

National Transportation Statistics, Table 1-46b - U.S. Ton-Miles of Freight (BTS Special Tabulation) (Updated 

September 2009). https://www.bts.gov/bts-publications/national-transportation-statistics/national-transportationstatistics-previous. Accessed 5-25-18. 

13 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I I 

Table 5. Illustrative U.S. Freight Rail Industry Average Factors 

NOx PM2.5 

gram/short ton-mile 0.4270 0.0120 

gram/truck-equivalent mile 13.19 0.3569 

gram/TEU-mile 4.745 0.1284 

Table 6. Underlying Emissions Inventories and Activity Data for Illustrative U.S.

Freight Rail Industry Average Factors 

short ton-miles 1,819,633,000,000 

Class I-only railcar miles (total) 34,611,843,000 

50' and Larger Box Plain + Box Equipped 2,223,402,000 

40' Box Plain 22,000 

Flat TOFC/COFC, General, and Other 5,057,466,000 

Flat Multi Level 1,725,998,000 

Gondola Plain and Equipped 7,893,684,000 

Refrigerated Mechanical and Non-Mechanical 495,311,000 

Open Top Hopper General and Special Service 5,913,012,000 

Covered Hopper 7,210,656,000 

Tank under 22,000 gallons 1,295,482,000 

Tank 22,000 gallons and over 2,394,565,000 

All Other Car Types 402,245,000 

Average payload per loaded railcar were calculated for all Class 1 carriers by dividing 

the value for annual ton-miles hauled by an estimate for loaded railcar-miles, based on 

2008 R-1 data. The calculation uses the Total Revenue and Non-Revenue Ton-Miles as 

listed In the R-1 Report on line 114 of schedule 755 divided by the Total loaded RailcarMiles (the sum of lines 30 and 64 of schedule 755) along with the factor for fuel gallons 

consumed for loaded freight that is created based on the percentage of loaded freight to 

total freight multiplied by the total diesel fuel value listed on schedule 750 Line 4. The 

following table summarizes the estimated average payload per railcar, by carrier. 

Table 7. Rail Carrier Average Payload 

Carrier Avg Payload/Loaded Railcar (tons) 

BNSF Railway 108 

CSX Transportation 85 

Grand Trunk 80 

Kansas City Southern 91 

Norfolk Southern 76 

Soo Line 77 

Union Pacific 91 

Industry Average 93 

14 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Average railcar volumes were calculated for all carriers by first estimating an average 

volume for each major railcar type listed in the R-1 forms (schedule 755, lines 15-81). 

The assumptions used to estimate these volumes are provided in Table 8 below. The 

railcar-miles reported for each railcar type were multiplied by these average volumes to 

estimate annual cubic foot-miles travelled by car type for each company and for the 

industry average. The distribution of cubic foot-miles across car types was used as the 

weighting factor to estimate a single average railcar volume for each company. These 

values and the resulting volume estimates are presented in Table 9 below. 

Table 8. Railcar Volume Assumptions and Sources 

Railcar Type Cubic 

Feet 

Source/Method 

Boxcar 50 ft and 7,177 Based on the average of the following boxcar types: 

longer including 50ft assumed to be 5694 [reflecting the average of 5355 (NS), 5431 (UP), 

equipped boxcars 5238 (CSX), 6175 (BSNF), 6269 (GTRC)]. 

60ft assumed to be 6,648 [reflecting the average of 6618 (NS), 6389 (UP), 

6085 (CSX), 7500 (BNSF)]. 

50ft high cube assumed to be 6,304 [reflecting the average of 6339 (NS) and 

6269 (CSX)]. 

60 ft high cube assumed to be 6917 [reflecting the average of 7499 (NS) , 

6646 (CSX), and 6607 (GTRC)]. 

86ft assumed to be 9999 (NS). 

Autoparts assumed to be 7499 (NS). 

Boxcar 40ft 4,555 Based on estimate of 50ft boxcar volume described above. Assumed 40ft 

length would result in 20% reduction in volume. 

Flat car – all types 6,395 Based on the average of the following flat car types: 

except for multi-level 60ft assumed to be 6739 (BNSF). 

89ft assumed to be 9372(BNSF). 

Coil assumed to be 3387(NS). 

Covered coil assumed to be 5294 [reflecting the average of 8328 (NS) and 

2260 (BNSF)]. 

Centerbeam assumed to be 6546 [reflecting the average of 5857 (UP) and 

7236 (BNSF)]. 

Bulkhead assumed to be 7030 (BNSF). 

Multi-level flat car 13,625 Based on the average of the following multi-level flat car types: 

Unilevel (that carry very large cargo, such as vehicles/tractors) assumed to be 

12183 (NS). 

Bi-level assumed to be 14381(NS). 

Tri-level assumed to be 14313 (based on average of 15287 (NS) and 13339 

(BNSF). 

Flat Car – all typesincluding multi-level 

[not used in analysis, 

except for estimating 

volume of “All Other 

Cars”] 

7,428 Based on the average volumes of the flatcar types described above including 

multi-level as a single flat car type. 

Gondola – all types 5,190 Based on the average of the following gondola car types: 

Including equipped 52-53ft assumed to be 2626 [based on average of 2665 (NS), 2743 (CSX), 

2400 (BNSF), and 2697(CRLC)]. 

60-66ft assumed to be 3372 [based on average of 3281 (NS), 3242 (CSX), 

3350 (BNSF), CRCL-3670, and 3366 (GTRC)]. 

Municipal Waste assumed to be 7999 (NS). 

Woodchip assumed to be 7781[based on average of 7862 (NS) and 7700 

(CRCL)]. 

Coal assumed to be 4170 [based on average of 3785 (NS) and 4556 (BNSF)]. 

15 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Railcar Type Cubic 

Feet 

Source/Method 

Refrigerated - 6,202 Based on the average of the following refrigerated car types: 

Mechanical /non- 48-72ft assumed to be 6963 [based on average of 6043 (UP) and 7883 

Mechanical (BNSF)]. 

50ft assumed to be 5167(GTRC). 

40-90 ft. assumed to be 6476 [based on average of 6952 (UP) and 6000 

(BNSF)]. 

Open Top Hopper 4,220 Based on the average of the following open top hopper car types: 

42ft assumed to be 3000 (UP). 

54ft assumed to be 3700 (UP). 

60ft assumed to be 5188 [based on average of 5125 (UP) and 5250 (GTRC)]. 

45ft+ assumed to be 4105 [based on average of 4500 (UP) and 3710 (BNSF). 

Woodchip assumed to be 7075 [based on average of 7525 (NS), 5999 (UP), 

and 7700 (CRCL)]. 

Small Aggregate assumed to be 2252 [based on average of 2150 (NS), 2106 

(BNSF), and 2500 (CRCL)]. 

Covered Hopper 4,188 Based on the average of the following covered top hopper car types: 

45ft assumed to be 5250 (GTRC). 

Aggregate assumed to be 2575 [based on average of 2150 (NS) and 3000 

(CRCL)]. 

Small Cube Gravel assumed to be 2939 [based on average of 2655 (NS), 

3100 (CSX), and 3063 (BNSF). 

Med-Large Cube Ores and Sand assumed to be 4169 [based on average of 

3750 (NS) and 4589 (BNSF)]. 

Jumbo assumed to be 5147 [based on average of 4875 (NS), 4462 (CSX), 

5175 (BNSF), and 6075 (CRCL)]. 

Pressure Differential (flour) assumed to be 5050 [based on average of 5124 

(NS) and 4975 (CRCL)]. 

Tank Cars under 2,314 Assumes 1 gallon=0.1337 cubic foot (USDA). 

22,000 gallons Based on small tank car average volume of 17304 gallons, which is the 

average of the following currently manufactured tank car volume design 

capacities of 13470, 13710, 15100, 15960, 16410,17300,,19900, 20000, 

20590, and 20610 gallons (GTRC). 

Tank Cars over 22,000 3,857 Assumes 1 gallon=0.1337 (USDA). 

gallons Based on large tank car volume of 28851 gallons, which is the average of the 

following currently manufactured tank car volume design capacities of 23470, 

25790, 27200, 28700, 30000, 33000, and 33800 gallons (GTRC). 

All Other Cars 5,014 Based on average volume presented above for each of the nine railcar types 

(all flatcars are represented by the line item that includes multi-level flatcars -

7428). 

Key: Norfolk Southern Railroad (NS)17, Union Pacific Railroad (UP)18, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad 

(BNSF)19, CSX Transportation Railroad (CSX)20, World Trade Press Guide to Railcars (GTRC)21, Chicago Rail Car 

Leasing (CRCL)22, Union Tank Car Company (UTCC)23, U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA)24 

17 Norfolk Southern Shipping Tools/Equipment Guide/Merchandise Equipment. 

http://www.nscorp.com/content/nscorp/en/shipping-tools/equipment-guide/merchandise-equipment.html. Accessed 

5-25-18. 18 UP Rail Equipment Descriptions. https://www.uprr.com/customers/equip-resources/cartypes/index.shtml. 

Accessed 5-25-18. 

19 BNSF Individual Railcar Equipment. http://www.bnsf.com/ship-with-bnsf/ways-of-shipping/individualrailcar.html#subtabs-3. Accessed 5-25-18. 20 CSX Railroad Equipment. https://www.csx.com/index.cfm/customers/resources/equipment/railroad-equipment/. 

Accessed 5-25-18. 21 World Trade Press, World Trade Resources Guide to Railcars 2010. 22 Chicago Freight Car Leasing Company, Railcar Types. http://www.crdx.com/Services/Railcar. Accessed 5-25-18. 23 UTLX Tank Car Designs and Descriptions. http://www.utlx.com/bdd_tank.html. Accessed 5-25-18. 24 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), 1992, Weights, Measures, and Conversion Factors for Agricultural 

Commodities and Their Products, Agricultural Handbook Number 697, Economic Research Service, Washington, 

DC. https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/41880/33132_ah697_002.pdf?v=42487. Accessed 5-25-18. 

16 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 9. Rail Carrier Average Volume Determination 

BNSF 

Freight Car Types (R1 - Schedule 755) Avg. Cu Ft. Railcar Miles (x1K) Cu Ft Miles (x1K) 

Box-Plain 40-Foot 4,555 1 4,555 

Box-Plain 50-Foot & Longer 7,177 9,338 67,018,826 

Box-Equipped 7,177 147,226 1,056,641,002 

Gondola-Plain 5,190 379,762 1,970,964,780 

Gondola-Equipped 5,190 75,894 393,889,860 

Hopper-Covered 4,188 758,442 3,176,355,096 

Hopper-Open Top-General Service 4,220 65,077 274,624,940 

Hopper-Open Top-Special Service 4,220 137,449 580,034,780 

Refrigerator-Mechanical 6,202 19,272 119,524,944 

Refrigerator-Non-Mechanical 6,202 32,910 204,107,820 

Flat-TOFC/COFC 6,395 520,521 3,328,731,795 

Flat-Multi-Level 13,625 38,624 526,252,000 

Flat-General Service 6,395 357 2,283,015 

Flat-All Other 6,395 71,826 459,327,270 

All Other Car Types-Total 5,772 20,146 116,282,712 

Average Railcar Cubic Feet 5,811 

17 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CSX 

Freight Car Types (R1 - Schedule 755) Railcar Miles (x1K) Cu Ft Miles (x1K) 

Box-Plain 40-Foot - -

Box-Plain 50-Foot & Longer 6,987 50,145,699 

Box-Equipped 144,631 1,038,016,687 

Gondola-Plain 137,256 712,358,640 

Gondola-Equipped 64,532 334,921,080 

Hopper-Covered 153,315 642,083,220 

Hopper-Open Top-General Service 78,412 330,898,640 

Hopper-Open Top-Special Service 35,451 149,603,220 

Refrigerator-Mechanical 17,117 106,159,634 

Refrigerator-Non-Mechanical 11,923 73,946,446 

Flat-TOFC/COFC 125,828 804,670,060 

Flat-Multi-Level 29,956 408,150,500 

Flat-General Service 162 1,035,990 

Flat-All Other 31,913 204,083,635 

All Other Car Types-Total 19,861 114,637,692 

Average Railcar Cubic Feet 6,389 

18 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grand Trunk 

Freight Car Types (R1 - Schedule 755) Railcar Miles (x1K) Cu Ft Miles (x1K) 

Box-Plain 40-Foot 0 -

Box-Plain 50-Foot & Longer 2,119 15,208,063 

Box-Equipped 66,110 474,471,470 

Gondola-Plain 6,467 33,563,730 

Gondola-Equipped 19,201 99,653,190 

Hopper-Covered 44,239 185,272,932 

Hopper-Open Top-General Service 9,114 38,461,080 

Hopper-Open Top-Special Service 32,621 137,660,620 

Refrigerator-Mechanical 312 1,935,024 

Refrigerator-Non-Mechanical 205 1,271,410 

Flat-TOFC/COFC 2,779 17,771,705 

Flat-Multi-Level 4,831 65,822,375 

Flat-General Service 20 127,900 

Flat-All Other 31,744 203,002,880 

All Other Car Types-Total 4,755 27,445,860 

Average Railcar Cubic Feet 6,309 

19 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kansas City Southern 

Freight Car Types (R1 - Schedule 755) Railcar Miles (x1K) Cu Ft Miles (x1K) 

Box-Plain 40-Foot 0 -

Box-Plain 50-Foot & Longer 3,383 24,279,791 

Box-Equipped 39,792 285,587,184 

Gondola-Plain 16,628 86,299,320 

Gondola-Equipped 11,150 57,868,500 

Hopper-Covered 50,346 210,849,048 

Hopper-Open Top-General Service 626 2,641,720 

Hopper-Open Top-Special Service 943 3,979,460 

Refrigerator-Mechanical 21 130,242 

Refrigerator-Non-Mechanical 52 322,504 

Flat-TOFC/COFC 10,736 68,656,720 

Flat-Multi-Level 629 8,570,125 

Flat-General Service 12 76,740 

Flat-All Other 2,321 14,842,795 

All Other Car Types-Total 247 1,425,684 

Average Railcar Cubic Feet 5,938 

20 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Norfolk Southern 

Freight Car Types (R1 - Schedule 755) Railcar Miles (x1K) Cu Ft Miles (x1K) 

Box-Plain 40-Foot 0 -

Box-Plain 50-Foot & Longer 7,622 54,703,094 

Box-Equipped 136,745 981,418,865 

Gondola-Plain 193,214 1,002,780,660 

Gondola-Equipped 111,320 577,750,800 

Hopper-Covered 116,848 489,359,424 

Hopper-Open Top-General Service 84,557 356,830,540 

Hopper-Open Top-Special Service 30,078 126,929,160 

Refrigerator-Mechanical 3,512 21,781,424 

Refrigerator-Non-Mechanical 5,392 33,441,184 

Flat-TOFC/COFC 114,928 734,964,560 

Flat-Multi-Level 20,349 277,255,125 

Flat-General Service 145 927,275 

Flat-All Other 24,563 157,080,385 

All Other Car Types-Total 212,408 1,226,018,976 

Average Railcar Cubic Feet 6,065 

21 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soo Line 

Freight Car Types (R1 - Schedule 755) Railcar Miles (x1K) Cu Ft Miles (x1K) 

Box-Plain 40-Foot 0 -

Box-Plain 50-Foot & Longer 725 5,203,325 

Box-Equipped 17,972 128,985,044 

Gondola-Plain 1,203 6,243,570 

Gondola-Equipped 8,856 45,962,640 

Hopper-Covered 94,146 394,283,448 

Hopper-Open Top-General Service 3,077 12,984,940 

Hopper-Open Top-Special Service 20 84,400 

Refrigerator-Mechanical 159 986,118 

Refrigerator-Non-Mechanical 742 4,601,884 

Flat-TOFC/COFC 11,178 71,483,310 

Flat-Multi-Level 2,973 40,507,125 

Flat-General Service 12 76,740 

Flat-All Other 10,068 64,384,860 

All Other Car Types-Total 428 2,470,416 

Average Railcar Cubic Feet 5,667 

22 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Union Pacific 

Freight Car Types (R1 - Schedule 755) Railcar Miles (x1K) Cu Ft Miles (x1K) 

Box-Plain 40-Foot 0 -

Box-Plain 50-Foot & Longer 12,311 88,356,047 

Box-Equipped 238,241 1,709,855,657 

Gondola-Plain 206,370 1,071,060,300 

Gondola-Equipped 91,775 476,312,250 

Hopper-Covered 370,929 1,553,450,652 

Hopper-Open Top-General Service 188,027 793,473,940 

Hopper-Open Top-Special Service 104,969 442,969,180 

Refrigerator-Mechanical 82,874 513,984,548 

Refrigerator-Non-Mechanical 27,009 167,509,818 

Flat-TOFC/COFC 1,026,251 6,562,875,145 

Flat-Multi-Level 46,889 638,862,625 

Flat-General Service 350 2,238,250 

Flat-All Other 72,371 462,812,545 

All Other Car Types-Total 16,769 96,790,668 

Average Railcar Cubic Feet 6,248 

23 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total (for Industry Average) 

Freight Car Types (R1 - Schedule 755) Railcar Miles (x1K) Cu Ft Miles (x1K) 

Box-Plain 40-Foot 1 4,555 

Box-Plain 50-Foot & Longer 42,485 304,914,845 

Box-Equipped 790,717 5,674,975,909 

Gondola-Plain 940,900 4,883,271,000 

Gondola-Equipped 382,728 1,986,358,320 

Hopper-Covered 1,588,265 6,651,653,820 

Hopper-Open Top-General Service 428,890 1,809,915,800 

Hopper-Open Top-Special Service 341,531 1,441,260,820 

Refrigerator-Mechanical 123,267 764,501,934 

Refrigerator-Non-Mechanical 78,233 485,201,066 

Flat-TOFC/COFC 1,812,221 11,589,153,295 

Flat-Multi-Level 144,251 1,965,419,875 

Flat-General Service 1,058 6,765,910 

Flat-All Other 244,806 1,565,534,370 

All Other Car Types-Total 274,614 1,585,072,008 

Average Railcar Cubic Feet 6,091 

Other Carrier Modes and Metrics 

SmartWay plans to incorporate emission factors for ocean-going marine freight for all 

modes in the near future. 

% SmartWay Value 

The % SmartWay screen tracks the portion of goods that shippers move with 

SmartWay Partners (expressed as a percentage between 0 and 100). You may select 

either ton-miles or total miles as the basis for determining your % SmartWay Value. 

Note that the Tool will automatically populate the % SmartWay screen with any carrier 

activity data entered in the Activity Data screen. In addition, the metric selected for the 

first business unit (miles or ton-miles) will be chosen as the basis for your other 

business units as well, so that a company-level % SmartWay Value can be calculated. 

To see your company-level % SmartWay Value, calculated across all business units, go 

to the % SmartWay Report in the Reports Menu via the Home page. 

3.0 Data Validation 

The Logistics Tool also contains data validation checks designed to identify missing and 

potentially erroneous data. At this time the only validation involves payload checks and 

total ton-mile checks, on the Activity Data screen. 

24 
 

 

Payload Validation 

Payload validation cutpoints were set with the intention of identifying those payloads 

that are somewhat outside typical industry values (yellow flag warnings) and those that 

are far outside industry averages (red flag warnings). The payload check only apples to 

Data Availability selections a, b, and c where payloads are either entered by the user, or 

calculated based on other inputs. Checks are applied at the carrier (row) level. 

Payload checks are specific to the truck SmartWay Category, which is specified for 

each carrier in the Carrier Data File. For Truck carriers, the payload checks are 

consistent with the Class 8b payload checks currently in the Truck Tool, and are shown 

below in Table 10. (See the Truck Tool Technical Documentation for additional 

information.) Note that Ranges 1 and 5 are colored red in the Tool, and require 

explanations before proceeding. Ranges 2 and 4 are colored yellow, and explanations 

are optional. 

Table 10. Truck Carrier Payload Validation Ranges 

Truck Bin Category 

Range

1 Low 

Range

1 High 

/ 2 Low 

Range

2 High 

/ 3 Low 

Range

3 High 

/ 4 Low 

Range

4 High 

/ 5 Low 

Range

5 High 

(Max) 

LTL Dry Van (from Dry Van 

Single - LTL-MovingPackage)25 0.0 0.0 0.0 13.5 20.8 150.0 

Package (from Dry Van 

Single - LTL-MovingPackage) 0.0 0.0 0.0 13.5 20.8 150.0 

TL Dry Van (from Dry Van 

Single - other bins) 0.0 10.5 14.5 22.4 26.4 150.0 

Refrigerated 0.0 14.5 17.3 22.9 25.7 82.5 

Flatbed 0.0 14.0 18.3 26.7 31.0 99.9 

Tanker 0.0 19.1 22.0 27.8 30.7 103.8 

Moving (from Dry Van 

Single – LTL-MovingPackage) 0.0 6.9 11.0 19.1 23.2 83.7 

Specialized (from Specialty -

Other bins) 0.0 20.2 22.9 28.3 31.1 111.0 

Dray (from Chassis) 0.0 11.2 16.5 27.1 32.4 73.5 

Auto Carrier 0.0 5.7 11.0 21.4 26.6 73.5 

Heavy-Bulk 0.0 2.7 16.5 44.0 57.8 120.0 

25 Since LTL and package shipments can be very small, no lower-bound “red/yellow” ranges are designated for LTL 

and package carrier payloads. Upper bound yellow and red ranges for LTL and package (and multi-modal) carriers 

were set equal to the average payload (6.20) plus twice the standard deviation (7.33) for logistics companies using 

these carrier types (n=991 for 2013 data). 

25 
 

 

A ~ 

- ~ A ~ 

~ ~ - - ~ 

- ~ 

~ 

- - - - ~ 

-- - --

r 

J 

~ .,,,,,, .... 

Range Range Range Range Range

Range 1 High 2 High 3 High 4 High 5 High 

Truck Bin Category 1 Low / 2 Low / 3 Low / 4 Low / 5 Low (Max) 

Utility (from Specialty – 

Other bins) 0.0 20.2 22.9 28.3 31.1 111.0 

Mixed (from Other - HeavyFlatbed-Mixed bins) 0.0 14.7 21.1 33.8 40.1 99.3 

Expedited (from Dry Van 

Single - other bins) 0.0 10.5 14.5 22.4 26.4 150.0 

With the exception of the LTL and package categories (which are based on 2013 data), 

all other logistic carrier payload validations are based on 2011 Logistics Partner data, 

and use simple cutoffs from the cumulative payload distribution shown in Figure 1 

below. 

Figure 1. Logistics Partner Payload Distribution 

Cumulative Payload Distribution - 2011 Logistics 

1 

0.9 

0.8 

0.7 

0.6 

0.5 

0.4 

0.3 

0.2 

0.1 

0 

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 

Short Tons 

As can be seen in the figure, the payload distribution is highly non-normal, so use of 

validation cutoffs based on standard deviation is not appropriate. However, rough 

inflection points appear at approximately 10%, 20%, 80%, and 90%. As such, these 

values were used to specify the following payload validation cutoffs for logistics carriers. 

• Range 1 Red: 0 – 12.0 tons 

• Range 2 Yellow: 12.0 – 16.7 tons 

Fraction of Partner Population 

26 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Range 3: 16.7 – 21.0 tons 

• Range 4 Yellow: 21.0 – 27.2 tons 

• Range 5 Red: 27.2 – 150 tons (150 absolute max) 

Validation levels for rail and surface multimodal carriers are summarized below. The 

upper bound cutpoints for surface multimodal payloads are based on a qualitative 

review of 2011 multimodal carrier tool submittals. The upper bound cutpoints for rail 

payloads are based on the distribution of average values estimated for Class 1 carriers 

(see Table 7 above). 

• Average surface multimodal payloads less than 9.4 tons (error – red) 

• Average surface multimodal payloads greater than 95 tons (error – red) 

• Average railcar payloads less than 9.4 tons or greater than 125 tons (error – red) 

• Average surface multimodal payloads between 9.4 and 15.5 tons (warning – 

yellow) 

• Average surface multimodal payloads between 60 and 95 tons (warning – yellow) 

In addition, the absolute upper bound for rail and surface multimodal carriers have both 

been set at 200 tons. Multimodal carriers with an air component have their maximum 

allowable average payload set to 58 tons, corresponding to the maximum payload 

capacity for the largest aircraft make/model specified by SmartWay partners. Any 

payload value less than or equal to zero will be flagged as an error and must be 

changed. 

Finally, barge carrier payloads are flagged for verification if their density is greater than 

0.6 tons per cubic foot or less than 0.003 tons per cubic foot, consistent with the 

payload validation used in the Barge Tool. 

Ton-Mile Validation 

2011 Logistics Partner data was evaluated to establish absolute upper bounds for tonmile inputs. The ton-mile validation applies at the carrier (row) and total fleet 

(summation of rows) level, with the same values applied to both. The maximum 

allowable ton-mile value was set to twice the observed maximum value in the 2011 data 

set: 209,207,446,000 ton-miles. 

27