1. A method of analyzing transportation data, comprising the steps of: receiving a transportation data set including transportation data corresponding to at least one item; converting a portion of the transportation data into an event string, the event string including a plurality of event symbols corresponding to a plurality of transportation events, wherein each of the plurality of event symbols corresponds to a single alphanumeric character; selectively filtering the event string according to a query to produce a filtered event string; and reporting the transportation data associated with the filtered event string.