Freight
Overall Freight Movement
Around 14.07 million tons of goods were shipped into Dane County and 15.75 tons of goods shipped out of the county
in 2003, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation Commodity Flow Survey. Truck is the dominant mode of
transportation for freight movement in the county. Around 98.8% of total inbound and outbound freight tonnage processed
in the county was carried by truck in 2003. About 1.2% was carried by rail and only a small fraction of one percent carried
by air. See Figure 34 showing the inbound and outbound commodity flows by mode for the county in 2003. The importance of air freight is understated somewhat by comparing the amount of commodities in weight versus value. High value,
low weight commodities tend to be shipped by air.
FIGURE 34
Commodity Flow by Mode
2003 Dane County
13,898,305
14,000,000
10,000,000
Inbound
8,000,000
Outbound
0
Rail
Truck
3,417
2,000,000
2,311
4,000,000
184,932
6,000,000
171,100
Tonnage
12,000,000
15,559,653
16,000,000
Air
The total tonnage of outbound freight exceeded that of inbound freight by 11.9%. The tonnage of outbound freight was
greater than inbound freight for all modes of transportation.
Around 84% of all inbound commodities came from within the state, while 76% of all outbound commodities were
shipped within the state. Nearly all of the freight carried intra-state was transported by truck. Around 77% of the inbound
commodities and 87% of the outbound commodities transported by air were shipped inter-state. All of the commodities
transported by rail were shipped inter-state. See Figure 35, on the next page, illustrating 2003 inter- and intra-state commodity flow tonnages.
Table 22, on page 107, lists inbound, outbound, and total tonnages, as well as commodity share of total tonnages, for products originating or terminating in Dane County in 2003. The largest share of inbound and outbound commodities included:
food or kindred products; nonmetallic minerals; secondary traffic (“other” products); petroleum or coal products; clay,
concrete, glass or stone products; and chemicals. Farm products also represented a substantial share of outbound commodities.
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FIGURE 35
Inbound
Wisconsin to Dane County
11,780,789 Total
(528 by Air)
(11,780,261 by Truck)
Outbound
Dane County to Wisconsin
11,907,241 Total
(429 by Air)
(11,906,812 by Truck)
Outbound
Dane County to Outside Wisconsin
3,655,829 Total
(2,988 by Air)
(3,652,841 by Truck)
Inbound
Outside Wisconsin to Dane County
852,812 by Rail
Outbound
Dane County to Outside Wisconsin
77,152 by Rail
Dane
Inbound
Outside Wisconsin to Dane County
2,119,827 Total
(1,783 by Air)
(2,118,044 by Truck)
2003 Commodity Flow Tonnages
Truck, Air, & Rail
Dane County, Wisconsin
FILE: H:\ArcMapPrj\Trans\Trucks\CommodityFlow_2003.mxd
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TABLE 22
INBOUND
AND OUTBOUND
COMMODITIES
DANE COUNTY, 2003
Table___: Inbound
and Outbound
Commodities
(All Modes), (ALL
Dane MODES),
County, 2003
Commodity
Apparel or o/finished textile products
Chemicals
Clay, concrete, glass, or stone products
Coal
Crude petroleum, natural gas, or gasoline
Electrical machinery and equipment
Fabricated metal products
Farm products
Food or kindred products
Forest products
Fresh fish or other marine products
Furniture or fixtures
Hazardous
Instruments - photographic or optical goods
Leather or leather products
Lumber or lumber products
Machinery o/than electrical
Mail and express
Metallic ores
Miscellaneous manufacturing products
Nonmetallic minerals
Ordnance or accessories
Petroleum or coal products
Primary metal products
Printed materials
Pulp, paper, or allied products
Rubber or miscellaneous plastics products
Secondary traffic ("Other" products)
Textile mill products
Tobacco products
Transportation equipment
Waste or scrap materials
Total
Source: WisDOT Commodity Flow Data
Tonnage
Inbound
8,651
1,535,470
1,650,172
2,105
32
54,958
198,690
166,555
2,287,747
6
66
30,703
0
7,335
607
823,775
61,012
609
100
17,894
2,730,328
5
1,523,835
175,622
142,500
926,849
27,347
1,456,979
9,322
0
163,468
68,976
14,071,718
Outbound
3,404
1,578,119
1,419,976
0
0
86,515
89,301
1,450,460
3,102,292
10
0
84,088
0
15,110
18
263,102
94,506
1,593
0
29,351
1,780,857
56
1,775,941
27,717
195,683
461,549
7,004
2,345,836
7,811
0
277,351
650,352
15,748,002
Total
12,055
3,113,589
3,070,148
2,105
32
141,473
287,991
1,617,015
5,390,039
16
66
114,791
0
22,445
625
1,086,877
155,518
2,202
100
47,245
4,511,185
61
3,299,776
203,339
338,183
1,388,398
34,351
3,802,815
17,133
0
440,819
719,328
29,819,720
Commodity Percent of Totals
% of
% of
% of Total
Inbound
Outbound
0.06%
0.02%
0.04%
10.91%
10.02%
10.44%
11.73%
9.02%
10.30%
0.01%
0.00%
0.01%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.39%
0.55%
0.47%
1.41%
0.57%
0.97%
1.18%
9.21%
5.42%
16.26%
19.70%
18.08%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.22%
0.53%
0.38%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.05%
0.10%
0.08%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
5.85%
1.67%
3.64%
0.43%
0.60%
0.52%
0.00%
0.01%
0.01%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.13%
0.19%
0.16%
19.40%
11.31%
15.13%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
10.83%
11.28%
11.07%
1.25%
0.18%
0.68%
1.01%
1.24%
1.13%
6.59%
2.93%
4.66%
0.19%
0.04%
0.12%
10.35%
14.90%
12.75%
0.07%
0.05%
0.06%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
1.16%
1.76%
1.48%
0.49%
4.13%
2.41%
100.00%
100.00%
100.00%
While data on the mode of transport for the various commodities is not available, it is known that a very large share of the
commodities transported by rail consists of farm products, coal, and waste or scrap materials. Commodities transported by
air include mail and express, machinery other than electrical, and farm products.
Freight Facilities
Trucking
Truck Routes and Companies
The Interstate system and other U.S. highways make up the bulk of the major regional or long distance truck routes in
Dane County. These include Interstate 39/90, Interstate 94, USH 151, USH 12, USH 14, USH 12/18, and USH 51. Other
state and county roadways designated as regional truck routes by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation include
STH 19, STH 30, STH 73, STH 78, STH 138, CTH PB, and CTH N between I-39/90 and USH 51 in Stoughton. This system of truck routes is supplemented by a local system of truck routes. Figure 36, on the next page, shows the entire system
of truck routes in the county along with other freight facilities and service.
Trucking companies in the county include contract haulers, heavy haulers, motor freight companies, and transportation
brokers that prepare documents and make arrangements for freight shipments. Figure 36 shows the location of trucking
companies in the county as well as the industrial use areas that generate freight. Some companies perform more than one
function. The map shows the concentration of trucking companies and industrial areas on the East side of the metro area
and in particular the USH 51 corridor with its quick access to the Interstate system. Almost all of the industrial areas are
located off the major long distance truck routes.
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Rail
Figure 36 also shows the location of the rail network in the county. The short-line carrier Wisconsin & Southern Railroad
Company is the principal or only operator on all of the rail lines except the portion of the Canadian Pacific (CP Rail)
Railway line that runs from Madison north through DeForest. CP Rail is a mainline operator. Another mainline operator, Union Pacific/Southern Pacific, used to operate in Dane County on the old Union Pacific rail line running south of
Madison to Evansville. Freight rail service has been discontinued from that line. The City of Fitchburg and the Village of
Oregon purchased the rail line in 1999 with a grant from WisDOT to serve a planned joint business/industrial park.
Three rail transit commissions have been created in southern Wisconsin to preserve rail service or the potential for rail
service, and to influence policies on the future use
of rail corridors if rail service is discontinued. Dane
County belongs to two of these commissions—the
South Central Wisconsin Rail Transit Commission
(SCWRTC) and the Wisconsin River Rail Transit
Commission (WRRTC).
The WRRTC has an operating contract with Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Co. for rail freight service on the publicly owned east-west rail corridor.
Freight rail service was terminated on the publicly
owned north-south rail corridor from Madison to
Monroe in 1996. The Wisconsin Department of
Natural Resources (WisDNR) has entered into an
agreement with the SCWRTC and WisDOT to operate a recreational trail and take over management
responsibilities for the rail corridor. The portion of
the trail from the county line to the Town of Oregon
is currently being constructed.
Air
The Dane County Regional Airport (DCRA) is the second largest airport in the state and is served by two air freight airlines along with eleven commercial air carriers. Around 24 million pounds of freight and mail passed through the airport
in 2005. Products that have high value (e.g., diagnostic and medical equipment), short life cycles (e.g., certain farm products), are time critical, and are relatively light weight are best shipped by air.
The DCRA has the capability for expanding ground facilities to accommodate the growth of air cargo operations to meet
future needs. Recent and ongoing improvements to the airport’s runways and taxiways serve not only air passenger growth
but air cargo carriers as well.
Intermodal
Intermodal facilities provide access and service by more than one type of freight carrier (e.g., rail/truck, barge/truck).
There are no intermodal facilities in Dane County.
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