Annual Motor Carriers of Freight Survey (AMCF)
Detailed information for 2008
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 - February 15, 2010 (This is the final release of data from the Annual Motor Carriers of Freight Survey. Beginning with the reference year 2009, this survey will be replaced by the Annual Trucking Survey.)
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.
Instrument design
The questionnaire for this survey has remained stable over the years, although the format and wording has been modified to maintain its relevance based on feedback from survey respondents and data users.
Sampling
This is a sample survey with a cross-sectional design.
The survey population consists of all companies on Statistics Canada's business register, the Central Frame Data Base (CFDB), classified as for-hire trucking with an annual gross business income value of $1 million or more. The CFDB is a dynamic database, updated on an ongoing basis.
The sample of carriers for this annual survey is the fourth quarter sample of the Quarterly Motor Carriers of Freight Survey (Survey ID 2748), updated to reflect any changes between the fourth quarter survey population and the survey population of the annual survey. Each segment of the industry and each province and territory of Canada is represented in the sample. The carriers are first grouped (stratified) according to their province of domicile and type of activity. Since 1997, the type of activity is defined according to the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS). Within each province/type of activity combination, the carriers are then divided into three size groups (strata). The size is measured by annual gross business income. For reasons of efficiency, carriers in the largest size stratum within each province/type of activity combination are included in the sample with certainty. Carriers in the remaining size strata are sampled according to a probability mechanism called simple random sampling, which gives every carrier within the same stratum an equal chance of selection. The sample size is 785 units.
Data sources
Responding to this survey is mandatory.
Data are collected directly from survey respondents.
The questionnaires are mailed in early spring. The data are collected by mail-back, facsimile or through computer assisted telephone interviews. The survey data are captured and checked for errors and inconsistencies. If required, some inconsistent, questionable or missing data are referred back to the carrier for clarification or revision.
View the Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s) .
Error detection
The survey data are captured and checked for errors and inconsistencies. If required, some inconsistent, questionable or missing data are referred back to the carrier for clarification or revision. Problems or missing data that cannot be resolved with the carrier are then replaced with consistent values (are imputed) using Statistics Canada's Generalized Edit and Imputation System.
Imputation
Problems or missing data, which cannot be resolved with the carrier, are replaced with consistent values (are imputed) using Statistics Canada's Generalized Edit and Imputation System. The system imputes the data using different imputation rules depending on the type of carrier and the type of data to be imputed.
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.
Documentation
- Motor Carriers of Freight Survey - Historical Notes
- Date modified: