Annual Motor Carriers of Freight Survey (AMCF)

Detailed information for 1998

Status:

Inactive

Frequency:

Annual

Record number:

2742

The principal objective of this survey is to provide information about the size, structure and economic performance of Canada's for-hire trucking industry.

Data release - November 24, 1999

Description

The principal objective of this survey is to provide information about the size, structure and economic performance of Canada's for-hire trucking industry. The survey provides information on assets, liabilities, owner's equity and other financial indicators (see also Survey ID 2748). These data are used by Statistics Canada as input to the Canadian System of National Accounts, by Transport Canada, the Canadian Transportation Agency and other federal and provincial departments, as well as transportation companies, consulting firms, universities and foreign governments.

Statistical activity

This statistical activity is part of a set of surveys measuring various aspects of activities related to the movement of people and goods. These surveys are grouped as follows:

Transportation by air includes records related to the movement of aircraft, passengers and cargo by air for both Canadian and foreign air carriers operating in Canada as well as the financial and operating characteristics of Canadian air carriers. These data are produced by the Aviation Statistics Centre.

Transportation by rail includes records relating to rail transportation in Canada, and between the United States and Canada.

Transportation by road includes records relating to all road transport in Canada. In addition to surveying carriers and owners of registered motor vehicles, certain programs rely on aggregation of provincial and territorial administrative records.

Reference period: Calendar year

Collection period: Second and third quarter of calendar year - May to August.

Subjects

  • Transportation
  • Transportation by road

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The target population includes all Canadian domiciled for-hire motor carriers (companies) of freight with annual operating revenues of $1 million or more.

Sampling

This is a sample survey with a cross-sectional design.

Data sources

Responding to this survey is mandatory.

Data are collected directly from survey respondents.

For the 2000 Q5 survey the questionnaires were mailed in early spring of 2001. The carriers were asked to report data pertaining to their own 12-month accounting period ending no later than March 31, 2001. The survey data were captured and checked for errors and inconsistencies. Inconsistent, questionable and missing data were referred back to the carrier for clarification or revision.

Estimation

Since only a sample of carriers is contacted, the individual values are weighted to represent the whole industry within the scope of the survey. The sampling weights of the respondents are adjusted to compensate for non response. The value for each carrier in the sample is multiplied by the sampling weight for that carrier, and then the weighted data from all sampled carriers belonging to a given estimation domain (e.g. general freight in Ontario) are summed to obtain the estimate. Variance estimates are obtained using the Taylor linearization method.

Quality evaluation

The survey results are analyzed before dissemination. In general, this includes a detailed review of the individual responses (especially for the largest enterprises), a review of general economic conditions as well as historic trends and comparisons with industry averages and ratios.

Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects which could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent or as permitted by the Statistics Act. Various confidentiality rules are applied to all data that are released or published to prevent the publication or disclosure of any information deemed confidential.

If necessary, data are suppressed to prevent direct or residual disclosure of identifiable data. Data for a specific industry or variable may be suppressed (along with that of a second industry or variable) if the number of enterprises in the population is too low.

Revisions and seasonal adjustment

Annual estimates are provided for the reference year. The data for the previous reference year are revised if necessary. As this is an annual program, seasonal adjustments are not applicable.

Data accuracy

The following factors should be kept in mind when interpreting the data: a) the survey does not provide complete coverage of motor carrier activities. It excludes i) Companies engaged in motor carrier operations on a secondary activity basis that do not keep separate accounts for these activities (See SDDS ID 2795) and ii) U.S. based motor carriers operating in Canada that cannot supply information on their Canadian operations. b) Data concerning interprovincial and international motor carriers are based on the businesses' head office location. c) Prior to 1979, the "total compensation" figure did not include supplementary labour income. d) Pre-1974 data concerning freight and household goods moving are not comparable to post-1974, 1990, 1994 data due to changes in the survey's objectives, universe and coverage.

Documentation

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