Where the hell did this stuff come from?
August 5, 2017 8:23 AM Subscribe
Who's shipping what where? This interactive map of all freight, by category, in the USA. So much activity some places, so little in others. No doubt a truer picture of our real world here than your ordinary maps.
So much meat from Jersey to New York? Does anything happen in Wyoming?
Naturally, a lit of political conclusions can be reached from this, too!
"wow, the more we move away from fossil fuels, the more exponential the benefit becomes"
This is an interesting point. It reminds me of how such an insane amount of rocket fuel is needed to lift all that rocket fuel (and a tiny payload) into the air, and the larger the rocket, the more fuel needed to lift more fuel, and so on…Which makes me wonder if anyone's figured out how much carbon dioxide we'll save as we stop expending so much fuel to ship around so much fuel.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 8:38 AM on August 5, 2017
This is an interesting point. It reminds me of how such an insane amount of rocket fuel is needed to lift all that rocket fuel (and a tiny payload) into the air, and the larger the rocket, the more fuel needed to lift more fuel, and so on…Which makes me wonder if anyone's figured out how much carbon dioxide we'll save as we stop expending so much fuel to ship around so much fuel.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 8:38 AM on August 5, 2017
Back of the envelope -- let's say a tanker burns 300 tons of fuel per day, and takes two weeks to make a shipment of 300,000 tons of fuel, burning 4200 tons. That's just 1%-2% of its capacity, much more efficient than a rocket's 85%-90%! (You don't even have to use the Tsiolkovsky equation)
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 8:58 AM on August 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 8:58 AM on August 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
Minnesota, the Metallic Ore State.
posted by Kwine at 9:00 AM on August 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Kwine at 9:00 AM on August 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm trying to picture what kind of vehicle can carry 300K tons of fuel across the interior of the US. Maybe a train? But a train isn't a tanker.
posted by hippybear at 9:01 AM on August 5, 2017
posted by hippybear at 9:01 AM on August 5, 2017
Hippybear it includes pipelines.
This is the type of thing I am really interested in but I always have questions I want to ask the creators. Looking at motorized vehicles is very strange. It is as if all cars come from Texas and go to Mississippi or Alabama. One thing is how many goods are swapped around vs generated. It says no imports but does that mean when they first arrive or when they are sent on? My first thought is that Texas is the receiving point of motorized transportation from Mexico that is then given a wax job and sent on its way to Mississippi for export and all of the swapping among states is due to used and new cars being swapped around by dealers. That would mean that the same unit would be represented in several different arrow arcs which is confusing as I'm sure somethings, like logs, go from where they are cut to where they are milled and that is it.
posted by Pembquist at 9:14 AM on August 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
This is the type of thing I am really interested in but I always have questions I want to ask the creators. Looking at motorized vehicles is very strange. It is as if all cars come from Texas and go to Mississippi or Alabama. One thing is how many goods are swapped around vs generated. It says no imports but does that mean when they first arrive or when they are sent on? My first thought is that Texas is the receiving point of motorized transportation from Mexico that is then given a wax job and sent on its way to Mississippi for export and all of the swapping among states is due to used and new cars being swapped around by dealers. That would mean that the same unit would be represented in several different arrow arcs which is confusing as I'm sure somethings, like logs, go from where they are cut to where they are milled and that is it.
posted by Pembquist at 9:14 AM on August 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
I was looking at the Standard Classification of Transported Goods, which the map illustrates the top-level categories of. But I'm a little unclear why all of the categories on the infographic are included, while others are left out. (Has the Agricultural Products category been entirely left out, or am I missing something?)
Pembquist, on preview, some of your questions might be answered by the documentation for the Freight Analysis Framework.
posted by mr_deerheart at 9:18 AM on August 5, 2017
Pembquist, on preview, some of your questions might be answered by the documentation for the Freight Analysis Framework.
posted by mr_deerheart at 9:18 AM on August 5, 2017
What's up with the huge arrow of electronics from Missouri to Kansas? Avionics?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:27 AM on August 5, 2017
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:27 AM on August 5, 2017
What the heck is Colorado doing with all of our (Nebraska's) milled grain products?
(I don't really know what "milled grain products" are)
posted by Horkus at 9:31 AM on August 5, 2017
(I don't really know what "milled grain products" are)
posted by Horkus at 9:31 AM on August 5, 2017
(wait, is it flour? are they baking a lot of snacks in Colorado? did I figure it out?)
posted by Horkus at 9:38 AM on August 5, 2017
posted by Horkus at 9:38 AM on August 5, 2017
Brewing beer maybe?
posted by LobsterMitten at 9:52 AM on August 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by LobsterMitten at 9:52 AM on August 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
Horkus, it may be beer - Miller Coors & Anheuser-Busch all have big complexes here, not to mention the over 350 craft breweries. And I know Limagrain Cerealseeds has a place in Ft. Collins; Kellog and General Mills are here too, although don't know how much they make. And pet food.
posted by barchan at 9:54 AM on August 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by barchan at 9:54 AM on August 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
What's up with the huge arrow of electronics from Missouri to Kansas? Avionics?
That arrow has me fascinated. Thought it might be stupidly overpriced defence avionics then realised the scale is in kilotons not dollars. Is there just a massive transshipment hub in Kansas? The category includes batteries and conductors so is there a big power cable manufacturer there?
posted by N-stoff at 11:07 AM on August 5, 2017
That arrow has me fascinated. Thought it might be stupidly overpriced defence avionics then realised the scale is in kilotons not dollars. Is there just a massive transshipment hub in Kansas? The category includes batteries and conductors so is there a big power cable manufacturer there?
posted by N-stoff at 11:07 AM on August 5, 2017
California sure does export a lot of ethanol, probably wine? Just think if we could recapture all of that ethanol we consume. We could get better mileage coming back from the wine bar than we got on the way there.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 11:26 AM on August 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 11:26 AM on August 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'd bet Wyoming's chief export is coal, but mining has always been big there.
posted by Bee'sWing at 12:19 PM on August 5, 2017
posted by Bee'sWing at 12:19 PM on August 5, 2017
Meanwhile Michigan apparently exports gravel, nonmetallic minerals and waste/scrap? Oh wait, we're a border state, we probably do a lot of Canadian export that this thing doesn't account for...
posted by axiom at 12:28 PM on August 5, 2017
posted by axiom at 12:28 PM on August 5, 2017
What's with all the logs leaving Maryland for Pennsylvania?
Are there no lumber mills in Maryland?
posted by madajb at 12:56 PM on August 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
Are there no lumber mills in Maryland?
posted by madajb at 12:56 PM on August 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
That arrow has me fascinated. Thought it might be stupidly overpriced defence avionics then realised the scale is in kilotons not dollars.
Kansas is a huge aviation industry.
A large portion of all GA aircraft come from Wichita and environs.
Cessna, Learjet, Beechcraft, Airbus and Boeing are all in Kansas.
They build the cockpit of the 787 there, that has to have miles of electronic components in it.
posted by madajb at 1:15 PM on August 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
Kansas is a huge aviation industry.
A large portion of all GA aircraft come from Wichita and environs.
Cessna, Learjet, Beechcraft, Airbus and Boeing are all in Kansas.
They build the cockpit of the 787 there, that has to have miles of electronic components in it.
posted by madajb at 1:15 PM on August 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
What's with all the logs leaving Maryland for Pennsylvania?
Are there no lumber mills in Maryland?
You just quoted the first two lines of the official Maryland state song
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 2:57 PM on August 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
Are there no lumber mills in Maryland?
You just quoted the first two lines of the official Maryland state song
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 2:57 PM on August 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
Minnesota, the Metallic Ore State.
Once upon a time Minnesota's "iron range" was the primary source of iron ore for the rust belt. It's still a source, but the high grade ore is mostly gone and the whole system isn't what it used to be. But still there's a regular route of massive taconite ships sailing up and down the Great Lakes, helping turn Minnesota rock into girders and pickup trucks.
posted by traveler_ at 2:59 PM on August 5, 2017
Once upon a time Minnesota's "iron range" was the primary source of iron ore for the rust belt. It's still a source, but the high grade ore is mostly gone and the whole system isn't what it used to be. But still there's a regular route of massive taconite ships sailing up and down the Great Lakes, helping turn Minnesota rock into girders and pickup trucks.
posted by traveler_ at 2:59 PM on August 5, 2017
It'd never occurred to me before to think of that steel bridge, say, in Portland was actually built out of Minnesota. That's actually a rather poetic image.
posted by hippybear at 3:03 PM on August 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 3:03 PM on August 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
As a rule of thumb for calculating, figure an average freight train at 10,000 tons.
posted by pjern at 4:23 PM on August 5, 2017
posted by pjern at 4:23 PM on August 5, 2017
Kansas is a huge aviation industry.
A large portion of all GA aircraft come from Wichita and environs.
Cessna, Learjet, Beechcraft, Airbus and Boeing are all in Kansas.
They build the cockpit of the 787 there, that has to have miles of electronic components in it.
That arrow is telling me that over 1 million tons of something classified as electronics moved from Missouri to Kansas in 2015. Stack every 787 assembled that year in a pile and you're not hitting 5% of that. A couple of thousand GA airplanes aren't going to do much more.
Fibre optic cable? Batteries? Power generation turbines? What is Missouri hiding from me?
posted by N-stoff at 4:46 PM on August 5, 2017
A large portion of all GA aircraft come from Wichita and environs.
Cessna, Learjet, Beechcraft, Airbus and Boeing are all in Kansas.
They build the cockpit of the 787 there, that has to have miles of electronic components in it.
That arrow is telling me that over 1 million tons of something classified as electronics moved from Missouri to Kansas in 2015. Stack every 787 assembled that year in a pile and you're not hitting 5% of that. A couple of thousand GA airplanes aren't going to do much more.
Fibre optic cable? Batteries? Power generation turbines? What is Missouri hiding from me?
posted by N-stoff at 4:46 PM on August 5, 2017
MetaFilter: What is Missouri hiding from me?
posted by hippybear at 4:51 PM on August 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 4:51 PM on August 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
Who's shipping what where?
Nerds, Supernatural, Deviant Art and Tumblr.
posted by Slap*Happy at 5:17 PM on August 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
Nerds, Supernatural, Deviant Art and Tumblr.
posted by Slap*Happy at 5:17 PM on August 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
What is Missouri hiding from me?
From the article: Some anomalies may be explained by steps within a supply chain. A manufacturer in California may ship to a wholesaler in Missouri...
Maybe Missouri is the wholesaler state!
posted by mygoditsbob at 7:18 PM on August 5, 2017
From the article: Some anomalies may be explained by steps within a supply chain. A manufacturer in California may ship to a wholesaler in Missouri...
Maybe Missouri is the wholesaler state!
posted by mygoditsbob at 7:18 PM on August 5, 2017
Fibre optic cable? Batteries?
Power generation turbines?
What is Missouri hiding from me?
Why does everyone keep posting state song lyrics in this thread
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 7:23 PM on August 5, 2017
Power generation turbines?
What is Missouri hiding from me?
Why does everyone keep posting state song lyrics in this thread
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 7:23 PM on August 5, 2017
What is Missouri hiding from me?
Missouri has two of the most trafficked navigable rivers in the world, right where they're the most navigable. At one point, ore from Montana was shipped downriver to the ports and markets in Mizzou.
posted by Slap*Happy at 7:25 PM on August 5, 2017
Missouri has two of the most trafficked navigable rivers in the world, right where they're the most navigable. At one point, ore from Montana was shipped downriver to the ports and markets in Mizzou.
posted by Slap*Happy at 7:25 PM on August 5, 2017
Wait what? A state in the middle of flyover country might be a valuable shipping and trading resource for the country? It's not all Seattle and LA and NYC?
WHO'DA THUNK IT?!?!?
posted by hippybear at 7:49 PM on August 5, 2017
WHO'DA THUNK IT?!?!?
posted by hippybear at 7:49 PM on August 5, 2017
Flyover country is also prime rail hub country, and rail is great for moving bulky, time-unsensitive materials. With that, approximately 40 percent of U.S. freight moves by ton-miles (the length freight travels) and 16 percent by tons (the weight of freight moved). That page also includes an informative map of the rail network, with line weight reflecting the net tons of all commodities, which shows you that Kansas City is the key freight hub, with six major corridors converging there, compared to 4 in Chicago, one in Los Angeles and one in Houston.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:34 PM on August 5, 2017
posted by filthy light thief at 9:34 PM on August 5, 2017
Spokane is full of trains of tar sands oil or coal cars from Wyoming heading over to the coast to be shipped to China. The trains are sometimes 1.5 miles long and can take as much as 25 minutes to move across a road with no grade crossing.
There's a real fear of the tar sands oil trains because of the things like the train wreck near Mosier Oregon and the subsequent blaze there, not to mention the horrible story of the Lac-Mégantic disaster. Spokane has a varied topography and has some rail tracks that are dozens of feet above the ground so the trains have a steady grade to climb. RR tracks also run right through downtown, literally. A Mosier type derail would be devastating on grand scale.
This actually have nothing to do with intra-state trade, but rails are an interesting part of our transportation economy that the general populace doesn't know enough about. They go places, they bring things, 99% of us don't know how or why that route.
posted by hippybear at 9:58 PM on August 5, 2017
There's a real fear of the tar sands oil trains because of the things like the train wreck near Mosier Oregon and the subsequent blaze there, not to mention the horrible story of the Lac-Mégantic disaster. Spokane has a varied topography and has some rail tracks that are dozens of feet above the ground so the trains have a steady grade to climb. RR tracks also run right through downtown, literally. A Mosier type derail would be devastating on grand scale.
This actually have nothing to do with intra-state trade, but rails are an interesting part of our transportation economy that the general populace doesn't know enough about. They go places, they bring things, 99% of us don't know how or why that route.
posted by hippybear at 9:58 PM on August 5, 2017
Why that route is almost always because it was the flattest/cheapest way to get to/through that location. Rarely, expensive tunnels and cuts were constructed to speed up a route, but that's pretty rare.
posted by wierdo at 7:03 PM on August 6, 2017
posted by wierdo at 7:03 PM on August 6, 2017
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I did not know this. But now I look at it and think "wow, the more we move away from fossil fuels, the more exponential the benefit becomes". It's interesting that they don't seem to be talking about petroleum used for manufacturing, strictly fuels.
posted by hippybear at 8:27 AM on August 5, 2017 [1 favorite]