The 1999 Trucking Survey is the basis for this profile of long-haul trucking activity in Québec. This roadside data-gathering process was part of the vast cross-Canada National Roadside Survey sponsored by the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA). It was conducted as a collaborative effort by Transports Québec, Transport Canada and the other Canadian provinces and territories. The States of Maine, Vermont, New York, Michigan, Minnesota and Washington, under the coordination of the Eastern Border Transportation Coalition (EBTC) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), contributed financially to the survey in order to increase the sample of trucks intercepted at the Canada-U.S. border.

Interurban Heavy Vehicle Weekly Flows
  Week in the Fall of 1999
Source: Transports Québec, 1999 Trucking Survey
(version 1.0)

In Québec, 16,800 heavy vehicles ¹ were intercepted at one of the 51 survey sites established along Québec roads. An additional 7,900 observations were collected from trucks intercepted in the rest of Canada which are known to have also used Québec roads during their trips. After validation, the usable sample size for analysis of interurban heavy vehicle trips on Québec roads amounts to 20,101 observations.

Québec put considerable effort into validating the survey data. No less than half the observations required corrections. This validation process and the large sample size contribute to the reliability of the results.

The survey provides factual data on routes taken by truckers, their points of origin and destination, truck weight and configuration, nature of cargo, vehicle type and equipment, carrier type, etc. The information is so specific that in addition to capturing truck movements between Québec and the provinces and States that are its economic partners, it enables the description of interregional movements within Québec.

A Large Proportion of the 240,000 Trips Recorded in Québec Are Related to Trade With External Partners

About 240,000 interurban heavy-truck trips were made on Québec roads on a weekly basis in the fall of 1999. About 130,000 (54%) served the Québec domestic market, meaning that Québec was both their origin and destination.

The 5,600 through trips, which had neither their origin nor their destination in Québec, only accounted for 2% of the traffic on its road network.

The 105,000 trips resulting from trade between Québec and other Canadian provinces and the United States accounted for 44% of interurban heavy-vehicle trips in Québec.

External Trade by Truck Is Primarily With Ontario

Of these 105,000 weekly external trips, nearly 60,000, or 57%, concern the Québec-Ontario market.

The 38,500 trips ensuring economic ties between Québec and the United States account for 37% of trips between Québec and its external markets. The remaining 6,500 have their destination or origin in other Canadian provinces.

Strong Growth of Road Freight Transportation Between Québec and Its Economic Partners

Between 1995 and 1999, the number of interurban truck trips accounting for trade with our Ontario and U.S. partners grew by 94% and 77% respectively. This strong growth goes hand in hand with the growth of the for-hire trucking industry. The for-hire truck fleet, which increased by over 100% between 1995 and 2002 in Québec, handles most of the trips related to external trade.

Two-Thirds of Cross-Border Traffic Goes Through Québec Border Crossings

Québec’s trade with its American neighbour is mainly concentrated in the Northeastern States. This explains why two-thirds of the 38,500 trucks providing links between the American States and Québec, that is 25,000 trucks, enter or leave Québec’s territory through one of its border crossings. The remaining third pass through one of the border crossings between Ontario and the United States.

A–15 / I–87 is the leading trade corridor between the United States and Québec, since 40% (15,000) of heavy vehicles travelling between Québec and the United States use the Lacolle border crossing.

The Thousand Islands Bridge at Lansdowne, Ontario is the second leading gateway for Québec-United States trade by truck, with weekly crossings by 5,500 trucks departing from or arriving in Québec.

Slightly fewer trucks (5,100) travel along the R–133 / I-89 corridor, which represents the third leading trade corridor between Québec and the United States. The Saint-Armand border crossing has the second heaviest traffic in Québec.

Autoroute 20 and Highway 401: The Busiest Trade Corridor

The number of trucks in the A–20 / H–401 corridor, at the Québec-Ontario border, is three times greater than on Autoroute 15 at the Lacolle border crossing, which is the busiest between Québec and the United States. The 48,000 weekly truck trips in this corridor make it Québec’s leading external trade route. About 35,000 trips through this point have Ontario as their origin or destination, while most others have their departure or arrival point in the United States. Most trips in this corridor occur between Toronto and Montréal.

Although less busy than Autoroutes 15 and 20 at Québec’s borders, the A–40 / H–417 corridor at the Ontario border is the crossing point for 13,000 heavy truck trips, making it Québec’s third leading entry and exit point. Also, traffic on Route 185 at the Québec-New Brunswick border, which is around 8,500 trucks per week, is greater than the level observed at Québec’s second busiest border crossing, Saint-Armand on Route 133.

External Trade 2 by Truck Is Mainly With Southern Québec

About 75% of trips to Ontario originate in the administrative regions of Montréal, Outaouais, Montérégie, Laval and Laurentides. Around 55% of trips to the United States originate from Montréal and Montérégie.

Of the 41,000 trucks that make an interurban trip from the Island of Montréal each week, 43% (18,000 trips) go to external markets, while the Capitale-Nationale (Québec area) region generates three times fewer trips (14,000) and dispatches 8% (1,100 trips) to external markets.

As a general rule, the farther south the Québec region, the greater the proportion of its trade by truck with the external market.

Southern Québec Is Where Interurban Trips by Heavy Trucks Are Concentrated

Montréal and Montérégie together are the origin of nearly 45% of trips in Québec. The Capitale-Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches regions and all other administrative regions located in southern and southeastern Québec represent a total of over 90% of the 183,000 interurban heavy-truck trips generated by Québec.

Therefore More Kilometres Are Travelled on Our Partners’ Highway Systems Than on Our Own

Many interurban trips are made throughout Québec’s vast territory, but the majority occur in the most southerly regions. Since these regions have close economic ties with the external markets which are at their doorstep, trips to or from these markets involve short distances on Québec soil and much greater distances in the partners’ territories. Thus, on a weekly basis, 51 million (58%) of the 88 million kilometres travelled on the pan-American highway system for trade involving Québec were driven on our neighbours’ roads in the fall of 1999.

Interurban Trips Cover an Average Distance of 400 km and the Vast Majority Are Made by Semi-trailer Trucks

Short trips under 80 km only account for 12% of the 240,000 interurban trips on the Québec road network. Long trips over 800 km are not more numerous because they only account for 11% of all trips. The biggest niche, accounting for nearly 60% of total trips, corresponds to distances between 80 and 400 km. Tractors and semi-trailers account for 71% of the interurban trips partially made on the Québec road network. The average distance travelled by this type of truck is 475 km. Most of the time, straight trucks make short trips, accounting for 24% of the total number of trips, with an average travelling distance per trip of 160 km. Road trains travel an average of 440 km and account for 5% of trips.

Long-haul Trucking Mainly Carries By-products of the Territory’s Resources

The three freight categories “Wood, wood products, paper and printing”, “Food products” and “Ore and mineral products” alone account for 56% of trips, 66% of the weight of freight transported and 57% of the distance travelled by all trucks combined. The “Wood, wood products, paper and printing” category, which generates the greatest number of trips (37,500), is particularly important in trade with the United States: it accounts for 30% of truck trips with freight on board.

The second leading category, “Food products”, is associated with 33,000 trips per week. The main origins and destinations for this trip category are the most densely populated centres of Québec. More than one quarter of these trips are related to trade with Ontario, which is the leading external market for this category.

“Ore and mineral products” also account for numerous trips within Québec, as well as to neighbouring provinces and States, that is, nearly 24,000 per week.

A Large Proportion of Heavy Vehicles Travel Empty

There are 76,000 trips without freight on board, accounting for no less than 32% of all truck traffic. The proportion of empty trucks is greatest on the intraprovincial market: 38 %. The international market has the greatest efficiency, since 82% of vehicles bound in either direction between Québec and the United States carry freight.

Montréal: A Major Economic Hub

The Montréal region is a freight transportation hub because of the vigour and number of its manufacturing enterprises, geographic location, demographic weight and major intermodal role. Given its geographic location and the absence of bypass routes, it is also the mandatory transit point for many trips. All these factors contribute to heavy use of its road network.

There are 152,000 weekly truck trips bound in either direction, entering or leaving the territory of the Montréal Census Metropolitan Area (CMA). Of this number, about 31,000 have neither their origin nor their destination in the Montréal CMA. This means that 21% of the trucks entering or leaving the CMA are in transit to achieve trade between other regions of Québec or North America.

Of the 152,000 trips exogenous to the Greater Montréal region, the vast majority (83%), or 126,000, use the Island of Montréal road network. Thus, over half of the 240,000 interurban truck trips in Québec are made in part on the Island of Montréal road network.

Over 70% of the 31,000 trips passing through the Montréal CMA use the Island of Montréal road network. These 22,000 trips nonetheless represent only 18% of the 126,000 exogenous trips on the Island of Montréal.

In fact, of the 152,000 truck trips exogenous to the Montréal CMA, 103,000 (68%) have the Island of Montréal as their departure or arrival point. This convergence of interurban heavy-vehicle traffic on the Montréal road network shows that the Island of Montréal itself is a major freight hub in Québec and North America.

Autoroute 40 on the Island of Montréal: The Backbone of Freight Transportation

Interurban Heavy Vehicle Traffic on Autoroute 40
on the Island of Montréal
Week in the Fall of 1999
Source: Transports Québec, 1999 Trucking Survey
(version 1.0)

On a weekly basis, over 100,000 long-haul trips by heavy truck travel in either direction on all or part of Autoroute 40 on the Island of Montréal, making it by far the most heavily used interurban corridor in Québec.

Practically all trips from or to Ontario, the Western United States and the Outaouais region use A–40 on the Island of Montréal, as shown in the Figure, representing the relative share (in red) of heavy-truck traffic using this corridor compared to total truck flows, illustrated in black. A large proportion of trips to or from the Northeastern United States via Route 133 and Autoroutes 15 and 55 also use A–40 in Montréal. All these trips explain the relatively high average distance of interurban trips made on Autoroute 40 in Montréal, at 525 km.

This Figure also indicates that trips on road corridors serving Québec regions on the North Shore of the St. Lawrence (Abitibi–Témiscamingue, Outaouais, Laval, Laurentides, Lanaudière and Mauricie) also make massive use of A–40. The heavy traffic on A–40 on the Island of Montréal nonetheless is essentially due to trips that have their origin or destination there.

Interurban Trips Involve Few Peddle Runs and Are Mainly Made for Hire

Trucking for hire corresponds to over two-thirds (68%) of the interurban heavy trucktrips described by the survey, while the rest of the trips are made by private carriers.

For three-quarters of the trips, delivery of merchandise corresponds to linehaul trips, while the others involve pickup or delivery runs.

Moreover, three-quarters of the truck trips originating in Québec have their starting point either at the trucking base, a manufacturing company or a distribution centre.

A Rich Database to Exploit

The complete document (in French) gives a more detailed explanation of the highlights that have just been presented, as well as the main methodological aspects concerning the 1999 Trucking Survey and its use. The database generated by this survey includes enormous potential for analysis of interurban freight transportation in Québec, which will gradually be put to profitable use over the years.

1 Trucks with a total load of 3000 kg or more.
2 Trade outside Québec's borders, and thus with other Canadian provinces and the United States.