In 2022, the U.S. Census Bureau conducted the Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) to better understand how U.S. businesses transport raw materials and finished goods. In partnership with PHMSA's Office of Hazardous Materials Safety (OHMS), a special module—the Expanded Hazardous Materials Supplement (EHM)—was developed to collect detailed information on hazardous materials shipped in DOT-regulated packaging.

This collaboration resulted in the first publicly available dataset of its kind. The EHM data aligns with the Hazardous Materials Regulations and provides estimates by hazard class, packaging type, UN number, mode of transportation, and more. The 2021–2022 dataset reflects input from approximately 6,500 U.S. businesses that identified as shipping at least one HAZMAT using DOT-compliant packaging.

New data about hazardous materials shippers released April 5th, 2024.

PHMSA's Office of Hazardous Materials Safety (OHMS) sponsored an expansion of the 2022 Commodity Flow Survey to include supplemental questions about hazardous materials (hazmat) and collect new data from hazmat shippers that use DOT-regulated packaging.

Based on this new data collection, the U.S. Census Bureau (Census) and OHMS worked together to develop a first-of-its-kind dataset for public release, which Census and OHMS have jointly published as the 2021-2022 Expanded Hazmat Supplement (EHM). Census has published the new data as an "Experimental Data Product" on their website here.

You can also download the data and supporting documentation here:

• EHM 2022 Public Release Data

• EHM 2021 Public Release Data

• EHM Experimental Data Product Methodology

• Overview -- EHM Experimental Data Product

• User Guide for Commodity Flow Survey: Expanded HAZMAT Supplement

Explore the Data Visualizations

The button above provides a full screen interactive graph where viewers can use the interactive filters (on the right) to toggle specific hazard classes on or off to explore which materials are most commonly shipped in each type of packaging. This helps identify trends—such as the fact that boxes are the most common packaging type and that POP packaging is used far more frequently than Specification packaging.

The graph shows the percentage of U.S. HAZMAT shippers that shipped each of the most common hazardous materials, based on 2021, 2022, and the average of both years. This gives insight into which specific HAZMATs are most commonly handled across the industry. To view in full screen, click the "View Interactive Bubble Chart" button above. The interactive chart allows you to customize the display—toggle years or hazard classes on and off, and focus on specific materials or data points.

Feedback:

The 2021-2022 Expanded Hazmat Supplement is a pilot project supported by the OHMS Research, Development & Technology (RD&T) program. PHMSA welcomes your suggestions for improvement and other feedback. Additionally, PHMSA is interested in learning how you or your organization plan to utilize the new 2021-2022 EHM data.

Questions and feedback can be sent via e-mail to the OHMS RD&T team at HAZMATRESEARCH@dot.gov.

Data Visualization

The following data visualization blends the style of a "bubble chart" with a scatterplot, using 2021 & 2022 data from the PHMSA/Census Commodity Flow Survey, Expanded HAZMAT Supplement, Table 2, Number of Establishments that Ship Selected Hazardous Materials by Industry and Geography.

• Double click on a colored dot in the legend to select one Hazard Class/Division at a time.
• After double-clicking, click once on a different colored dot to add (or remove) one of the other Hazard Classes/Divisions.
• Use the dropdown filter to look at one year at a time (“Show 2021” or "Show 2022"), both years ("Show 2021 & 2022"), only the averages (“Show Average”), or all the data (“Show All”).
• Please note, in accordance with U.S. Census standards for data quality, sample size, and confidentiality, the graphic only displays HAZMATs by UN IDs that are shipped by more than 500 U.S. shippers.
• Classes 1, 4, 6, and 7 are not represented because fewer than 500 U.S. shippers ship HAZMATs in these Hazard Classes.