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Access U.S. customs trade data through bill of lading search

PIERS is the leading provider of import and export data at the detailed, bill-of-lading level – a heritage rooted in 40 years of amassing the industry's largest U.S. waterborne trade data set. Every day, on average, the PIERS team processes close to 60,000 bills of lading that are filed with U.S. Customs. Within hours of receipt, we verify, standardize, enhance and load the data into our products so that you can spend your time on business decisions rather than data collection. The PIERS team integrates this transactional trade data with standardized company details so you can also identify imports and exports by company. In addition to U.S. trade data going back to 2003, you can find detailed import and export transactions for 18 international markets and trade statistics for more than 144 countries. Many customers use PIERS as a complement to our aggregated trade data product, Global Trade Analytics Suite

The PIERS three-tier subscription model offers a scalable solution that lets you:

  • Increase operational efficiencies with decision-ready data
  • Make smarter decisions based on greater data accuracy
  • Capitalize on market opportunities by tracking supply-demand shifts
  • Benchmark competitor shipments, trading partners, suppliers and strategies
  • Generate sales leads by targeting companies based on their trade activities
Cargo Containers

Is PIERS right for you?

Nearly all of the top 20 ocean carriers, many of the world’s biggest NVOCCs and 3PLs, and transportation, energy, chemical, agriculture and finance companies trust PIERS for their trade data.

Who uses PIERS? How?
Terminals
Port Operators
  • Monitor and analyze transshipment hubs and opportunities
  • Conduct carrier lifting analysis by port pairs
  • Perform commodity or customer targeting analysis
  • Review competing ports and terminal activity by carrier
    		•
    Carriers
  • Measure competing carrier market share shifts by region, country, port pairs
  • Conduct customer or commodity targeting sales campaigns for increased liftings at designated ports
  • Perform trade lane analysis for new service expansion
  • Maximize profits by focusing on customers moving high-rated commodities
    		•
    Manufacturers
    Importers
    Exporters
  • Monitor competing country and company inroads
  • Oversee designated supplier and customer activities to ensure they remain within contractual compliance
  • Penetrate new markets
    		•
    Banks
    Insurance companies
  • Expand sales by locating and identifying specific companies meeting required parameters for sales targeting
    		•
    Government agencies
  • Provide lists of companies within specific geographic parameters
    		•
    Trade organizations
  • Find aggregated company data on all companies that import or export from the U.S. and that export from non-U.S. countries
    		•
    3PLs
    Freight forwarders
    Transportation firms
  • Identify sales leads by searching for shippers and consignees within certain parameters
    		•

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    PIERS U.S. Data Coverage

    • U.S. waterborne import and export trade data covering 100% of U.S. port locations
    • Total bills of lading: 16,060,444 processed in 2023 with over 2 billion data fields
    • Company records: 30 million records in 2023 with 1 million distinct company names
    • Average daily bills of lading processed: 44,001
    • Trading countries: 217
    • Historical data: Back to 2003
    • U.S. export bills of lading: 4,560,091 processed in 2023, including:
      • Non-containerized export MTONs: 613,306,350
      • Distinct containers: 7,391,950

    PIERS Non-U.S. Data Coverage

    • Data for 17 countries in Central and South America, Turkey, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and Philippines.
    • Import and export bills of lading, including importer and exporter names: Central America, Chile, Ecuador, India, Pakistan, Mexico, Peru, Vietnam and Turkey
    • Detailed import and export data, including company names: Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Paraguay, Uruguay, Turkey and Argentina (importer names only)

    PIERS Data Fields

    • Bill of lading number
    • Vessel name, IMO code, voyage number
    • Ocean carrier/shipping line
    • NVOCC
    • Consignee name/address (only for U.S. imported shipments, not for U.S. exported shipments)
    • Shipper name/address (included for both imports/exports, unless the company has applied for confidentiality from U.S. States Customs)
    • Notify name/address (only for U.S. imported shipments, not for U.S. exported shipments)
    • Location and country of lading
    • Departure date (included for U.S. exports, arrival date indicated for U.S. imports)
    • Location and country of destination
    • Port of discharge/transshipment port
    • Description of goods (full description and PIERS-generated summary)
    • Weight
    • Container number(s)
    • Six-digit HS code
    • Master and house bill of lading numbers
    • Estimated value
    • Vessel flag/country of registry
    • Containerized/non-containerized
    • Refrigerated, potentially hazardous, roll-on/roll-off cargo

    The PIERS Difference

    When you subscribe to PIERS, you are getting the highest quality data, which our specialists have cleansed, standardized and enhanced through a six-step process.

    Step One: Structure

    PIERS specialists structure disparate data sources into a single model.

    Step Two: Standardize
    PIERS specialists normalize various names, abbreviations and codes for ports to a reference set.

    Step Three: Validate
    PIERS specialists validate voyage information against port entry and exit logs published by U.S. Customs.

    Step Four: Code
    PIERS specialists parse raw text cargo descriptions into brief commodity descriptions and assign Harmonized System (HS) codes.

    Step Five: Calculate
    PIERS specialists calculate consistent weight and TEU values across the entire data set, accounting for consolidated shipments, multiple commodities, filings errors and other special cases.

    Step Six: Enhance
    PIERS specialists use PIERS historical reference sets and algorithms for added value data points – identifying refrigerated cargo, adding company data and more.

    Bill of Lading Sample

    FAQ

    Maritime & Trade Research and Analysis

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