Annual Survey of Small For-Hire Carriers of Freight and Owner-Operators

Annual Survey of Small For-Hire Carriers of Freight and Owner-Operators
Summary of changes
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Detailed information for 2007

Status:

Inactive

Frequency:

Annual

Record number:

2800

The main purpose of this survey is to provide information about the size, structure and economic performance of Canada's small for-hire trucking industry and Owner-operators.

Data release - August 17, 2009

Description

The main purpose of this survey is to provide information about the size, structure and economic performance of Canada's Small for-hire trucking industry and Owner-operators.

The data are used by Statistics Canada as input to the 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.

Small: - generally refers to:
- those carriers or owner operators with annual revenues ranging from $30 thousand to $1 million dollars and
- small for-hire and owner operators involved in transportation by truck of general freight, liquid and dry bulk, forestry products and other specialized freight.

This is a twofold survey from computer assisted telephone interview (CATI) for operational characteristics (type of services, employment and equipment) and administrative data for financial statistics for unincorporated and incorporated firms.

This survey originated following a recommendation by a 1990 Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA ) task force.

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: September 20th to December 31st following the survey reference year

Subjects

  • Transportation
  • Transportation by road

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The target population includes all Canadian-domiciled for-hire motor carriers (companies) with annual operating revenues greater than or equal to $30 thousand and less than $1 million, as well as all Canadian-domiciled owner operators with annual operating revenues of $30 thousand and more. Courier and messenger services are not covered by this survey, nor are the private carriers.

The survey population consists of all companies on Statistics Canada's Business Register, the Central Frame Data Base (CFDB), classified as trucking companies with annual gross business income greater than or equal to $30 thousand and less than $1 million, or with annual gross business income of $1 million and more if these companies are known as owner operators. In addition, the survey population includes some companies from an administrative file of tax filers classified as trucking companies with annual operating revenues greater than or equal to $30 thousand and less than $1 million that are not yet found on the Business Register.

Instrument design

Complete questionnaire design was undertaken in 1990 reference year along with the review of the Annual Motor Carriers of Freight program. This was undertaken with the Truck Transport Industry associations and Transport Canada.

Sampling

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

The number of trucking companies on the survey frame is large and for that reason a sample of them is selected to represent the population. The survey uses a two-phase sample design, where a large first-phase sample is selected and the second-phase sample is drawn as a sub-sample from these companies. The design of the sampling procedures used in each phase is described below.

First-Phase
The first-phase sample is drawn independently for incorporated and unincorporated companies. The list of unincorporated companies on the Business Register is classified using province/territory of domicile, North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code, and size (measured by annual gross business income). Companies with the same classification form a stratum within which a first-phase sample is selected. The complete list of incorporated companies on the survey frame is included in the first-phase sample.

Second-Phase
The second-phase sample is a sub-sample of the first-phase sample. The companies included in the first-phase sample are again classified using province/territory of domicile, NAICS code, and size. Companies with the same classification form a stratum within which a second-phase sample is selected.

The overall size of the second phase sample and its allocation among strata are determined to satisfy precision requirements for provincial estimates under given cost constraints. The coefficient of variation is used as the measure of precision. The sample size and the estimated population size by province or territory of domicile are given in Table 1 accessible through the hyperlink below.

Data sources

Responding to this survey is mandatory.

Data are collected directly from survey respondents and extracted from administrative files.

During the collection period, financial data is obtained for all units in the first-phase sample from an administrative file of tax filers. The companies included in the second-phase sample are contacted via computer-assisted telephone interview in order to collect operational data.

The sampled units (small for-hire firms or owner-operators) are informed 2 weeks in advance of the telephone interview. The mail-out card indicates the type of questions or data that will be required from them.

View the Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s) .

Error detection

Edits are pre-programmed and applied automatically. Reported data are examined for completeness and consistency using automated editing coupled with analytical review. Additional edits ensure data coherence in each section of the questionnaire.

Imputation

For partial or total non-response, imputation is performed using a "nearest neighbour" procedure (donor imputation) using available auxiliary information to substitute the data from a company with similar characteristics. This imputation process is also coupled with a manual analytical review.

Estimation

The General estimation system is used to provide estimates for the entire observed population. Since only a sample of carriers was contacted for the survey, the individual values are weighted to represent the whole industry within the scope of the survey. The value of each carrier is multiplied by the weight for that carrier, and then the weighted data from all sampled carriers belonging to a given estimation domain (e.g. Ontario) are summed to obtain the estimate.

The sample design at the second-phase has been optimized, and the estimation strategy now uses a calibration approach to make use of information that became available after the sample had been drawn (e.g. an updated frame is used in calculating the estimation weights to make use of updates to the Business Register since the sample was drawn). The overall effect of these changes is an improved reliability in the survey estimates. In particular, this improved reliability comes from i) an improved coverage of the target population (which results in an increase in the estimated number of in-scope companies), and ii) an improved precision in the survey estimates (i.e. lower coefficients of variation).

Quality evaluation

Prior to dissemination, survey results are analyzed for comparability: in general this includes a detailed review of: individual responses, general economic conditions, historic trends and comparisons with other data sources.

Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any data which would divulge information obtained under the Statistics Act that relates to any identifiable person, business or organization without the prior knowledge or the consent in writing of that person, business or organization. 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.

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

This section presents some indicators of the data quality of the Annual Motor Carriers of Freight Survey of Small For-hire Carriers and Owner Operators as shown in Table 2 (see the link below). To assist the user in evaluating the potential effect of non-response and imputation, relative imputation rates for key characteristics (number of employees, fuel consumed, and operating revenues) are presented. The relative imputation rate is defined as the proportion of the corresponding published estimate that is accounted for by imputed data. For example, assume that the total published estimate is $25 million, composed of $20 million from non-imputed data and $5 million from imputed data. Then the relative imputation rate is 0.2 ($5 million divided by $25 million) or 20%. The lower the relative imputation rate, the more reliable the published estimate.

A total response rate is also provided. This rate is defined as the number of carriers that responded to the survey divided by the total number of in-scope units in the sample.

As a measure of the sampling error, estimated coefficients of variation (CV) for some variables are presented in Table 2. CV's for other estimates may be obtained from the Transportation Division upon request. Note that the provided CV estimates do not consider the fact that some of the data were imputed and thus may underestimate the true CV's. The CV and the relative imputation rate should be considered simultaneously to make an assessment of the reliability of an estimate.

Note: The quality of the estimates is classified as follows:

* Excellent CV is 0.01% to 4.99%
* Very good CV is 5.00% to 9.99%
* Good CV is 10.00% to 14.99%
* Acceptable CV is 15.00% to 24.99%
* Caution CV is 25.00% to 34.99%
* Unreliable CV is larger than 35.00%

Documentation

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