Relief Commodity Demand and Truckloads

ScopeSized from the number of people without power and a short list of federal planning factors. The factors are small and the multipliers are large. FEMA plans three liters of water and two meals per person per day, and the USACE planning model adds 8 lb of ice and applies a 40% visit factor to the population without power, because most households have supplies, family, or a generator and never come to a distribution point. An entered impacted population replaces the visit factor. Each commodity ships in its own truckload unit -- 18,000 L of water (about 4,755 gal), 21,744 meals, 40,000 lb of ice, 4,400 tarps -- and the calculator reports truckloads because that is how they are ordered and how receiving sites are sized. 120,000 people without power at a 40% visit factor is 48,000 people a day: 144,000 L of water is 8 trucks, 96,000 meals is 4.42 so 5 trucks, and 384,000 lb of ice is 9.6 so 10 trucks -- 23 trucks a day. Over a 72-hour planning period the total rounds up once, not daily: 24 water, 14 meal, and 29 ice trucks. One water truck serves 6,000 people a day at three liters, one meals truck 10,872, one ice truck 5,000. Tarps are one per damaged home, and shelters take one mixed load (3 pallets water, 1 ice, 1 meals) per 500 residents a day. Litres and gallons are kept distinct: three liters is not a gallon. A planning estimate only: it does not cover infant formula, medical or pet supplies, or dietary needs, and it does not route trucks or size warehouses. FEMA's current guidance, the state logistics plan, and the incident logistics section govern.

Formula or tablepeople served = population without power x visit factor (or an entered impacted population); daily water = people x 3 L, meals = people x 2, ice = people x 8 lb; trucks per day = ceil(daily quantity / truckload), period trucks = ceil(daily quantity x days / truckload); tarp trucks = ceil(damaged homes / 4,400); shelter mixed loads = ceil(residents / 500) per day.

Source and editionFEMA, Distribution Management Plan Guide 2.0 (2022), Section 1.3 (two meals and three liters of water per person per day), and the USACE commodity planning model as published in Missouri SEMA, Annex C, Points of Distribution (2011): 40% visit factor, 8 lb of ice per person per day, truckloads of 18,000 L water, 21,744 meals, 40,000 lb ice, and 4,400 tarps, and a shelter mixed load per 500 residents. The state logistics plan and the incident logistics section govern.

Free accessFederal planning factors and truckload units from public FEMA and state emergency management documents; multiplication and rounding up only.

What governsEstimate. AHJ and licensed professional govern.

API field namespopulation_without_power_count, impacted_population_count, visit_factor, water_l_per_person_day, meals_per_person_day, ice_lb_per_person_day, planning_days, water_truck_l, meals_per_truck_count, ice_truck_lb, tarps_per_truck_count, damaged_homes_count, shelter_residents_count, people_served_count, water_l_per_day, water_trucks_per_day, meals_per_day, meal_truck_ratio, meal_trucks_per_day, ice_lb_per_day, ice_trucks_per_day, trucks_per_day_total, water_trucks_period, meal_trucks_period, ice_trucks_period, people_per_water_truck_count

• Two meals and three liters a day per person of the population served, per dayFEMA Distribution Management Plan Guide 2.0, Section 1.3
• 40% visit factor share of the population without power that comes to a distribution pointUSACE planning model (Missouri SEMA Annex C)
• Truckload units 18,000 L water, 21,744 meals, 40,000 lb ice, 4,400 tarpsUSACE planning model (Missouri SEMA Annex C)