The April 2, 2026 national trailer inventory was collected by field staff and volunteers submitting data through a structured form. Because respondents entered values manually in free-text fields — rather than selecting from a controlled list — the raw dataset reflects the full range of real-world data entry: inconsistent units, varied date formats, truncated brand names, and missing or ambiguous values.
This report documents the cleaning and standardization pipeline applied before analysis. Three fields required significant transformation: trailer length (inconsistent formats), model year (mixed date representations), and trailer make (free-form brand names with no canonical list). Each field was parsed with custom logic, and every transformation decision is surfaced in the tables below so the methodology is fully auditable.
Of 1,694 records received, 1,494 were successfully geocoded to a street address. The remaining 200 records had addresses or element numbers that could not be matched against the existing geocode reference and were excluded from the map.
| Raw Input | Cleaned length_ft | Parse method |
|---|
| Raw Input | Cleaned model_year | Age in 2026 |
|---|
| Raw Input | Canonical Make | Records affected |
|---|
Each column compares a field survey count against Element inventory. Mar Survey = active trailers found in March 2026. Apr Survey = active trailers found April 2, 2026.
Positive difference = survey found more trailers than Element expects. Negative = survey found fewer. Survey Change (Mar→Apr) tracks whether each region improved or declined between the two pulls.
| Region | Mar Inventory | Mar Survey | Mar Diff | Apr Inventory | Apr Survey | Apr Diff | Survey Change |
|---|
1,494 trailers. A fleet built over three decades.
The three most common brands average 18–23 years in service. The images below show factory-new stock — field units will vary based on age, use, and chapter modifications.
This tool maps and analyzes the American Red Cross national trailer inventory collected in the April 2, 2026 field survey. It covers 1,494 geocoded trailers and 226 chapter headquarters across all ARC divisions.
- Map & Analysis — Interactive map with filtering and layer controls. Click any trailer dot or chapter HQ to see details in the right panel.
- Charts — Distribution charts for make, age, length, axle count, and division breakdowns.
- Data Quality — Before/after view of how raw survey text was cleaned into structured data.
- Report Variance — Comparison of March 2026 vs. April 2, 2026 inventory counts by region.
- Our Fleet — Visual reference for the top trailer makes by count, with average age data.
- Color Map By — Changes the color scheme of trailer dots on the map.
- Status / Axle — Click pills to toggle categories on/off. SOLD and WRECKED are hidden by default — these trailers are no longer active fleet assets. Toggle them on if you need to audit decommissioned equipment. SURPLUS trailers are shown by default as they may still be physically present and deployable.
- Length / Age — Drag sliders to set min/max ranges.
- Division & Make — Hold Ctrl (Windows) or Cmd (Mac) to select multiple values.
- Chapter — Filters trailers AND shows only that chapter's HQ and drive rings on the map.
- Reset button — Clears all filters and shows all trailers.
- Toggle trailer dots, chapter HQ markers, and drive ring overlays on/off.
- Toggle ARC Geography boundary layers (Divisions, Regions, Chapters, Counties).
- Click any trailer or HQ on the map to see full details in this panel.
The 1-, 2-, and 3-hour drive rings use straight-line (geodesic) distances of approximately 55, 100, and 150 miles respectively. These are estimates only — actual travel time varies by route, traffic, road conditions, and terrain.
Drive rings are drawn around the chapter headquarters address, not around where each trailer is physically stored. A chapter may have trailers deployed across a wide service area — some close to HQ, some hundreds of miles away.
In the example below, the chapter HQ is in Topeka and the rings radiate from there. The blue dot near Salina (western Kansas) is a trailer assigned to this chapter but stored roughly 130 miles from HQ — well outside the 1-hour ring, and near the edge of the 2-hour ring. The rings tell you how far a crew dispatched from HQ could travel, not how far any given trailer is from a disaster site.
Kansas City/Topeka chapter. The red crosshair is the HQ. The blue dot near Salina is a trailer stored ~130 miles away.
The 1-, 2-, and 3-hour rings are straight-line distance circles — every point exactly 55, 100, or 150 miles from the chapter HQ as the crow flies. They ignore road geometry, terrain, and traffic.
An isochrone is the true geographic area reachable within a given drive time, routed along actual roads. The shape is irregular — stretching far along interstates, contracting around mountains and water. A 1-hour isochrone from Denver bulges east along I-70 and shrinks sharply west into the Rockies.
- Drive rings (this tool): instant, free, client-side — but directional only
- Isochrones: accurate to road network — but require a routing API (ESRI Network Analyst, Mapbox, HERE) and cost credits per polygon
- At 226 chapters × 3 tiers = 678 requests, isochrones are non-trivial to generate or host
- Mountain chapters (Denver, Reno, Salt Lake) — terrain compresses real drive time far inside the ring
- Coastal chapters (Miami, Seattle) — water cuts off half the ring, overstating coverage
- Rural chapters with sparse road networks — ring implies reach that does not exist
Road-accurate isochrones can be added at a later point if routing API access is available.