Statbel (Direction générale Statistique - Statistics Belgium)

Directorate Territory Statistics - Transport Statistics

North Gate - Boulevard du Roi Albert II, 16, 1000 Bruxelles 

Road freight data collection consists of three datasets with quarterly periodicity:
1. Vehicle related variables dataset for a sample of road good motor vehicles contain, among others, indication about the type and age of the vehicle, the economic activity of the owner of the vehicle, the total kilometres loaded or empty.
2. Journey related variables dataset which contain, among other indications about weight of goods, regions of loading and unloading, distance driven, and tonne-kilometres performed during a journey
3. Goods related variables dataset which contain among others the type of goods transported and their weight and distance travelled, regions of loading and unloading.

Statistics on carriage of goods by road apply the following statistical classifications:

• The type of goods transported by road was collected, until reference year 2007 (included), according to the 24 groups of goods following the "Standard Goods Classification for Transport Statistics/Revised (NST/R )".
• The regional coding is done in conformity with European legislation: "NUTS Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics" (see also NUTS). Economic activity class of the vehicle owner is an optional variable. Data were collected according to NACE Rev. 1 until the end of 2007. From the beginning of 2008 onwards, the economic activity has been classified according to NACE Rev. 2 (see  "Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community, Rev. 2 (NACE Rev. 2)").
• Type of dangerous goods is a mandatory variable, but it is reported only for those goods that fall into this category. The classification is based on "European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road", Chapter 2.1, as published in Annex E of Council Regulation (EC) No 1172/98. Directive 2008/68/EC makes reference to ADR as regards the transport of dangerous goods by road.

The optional variable type of cargo follows the Classification of Cargo Types of UNECE (United Nations, Economic Commission for Europe - codes for types of cargo, packages and packaging materials, Recommendation 21 adopted by the Working Party on Facilitation of International Trade Procedures, Geneva, March 1986).

all sectors

The main concepts used in Road freight statistics are the following, more details can be found in the Road freight transport methodology manual : 

A goods road motor vehicle is any single road transport vehicle (lorry), or combination of road vehicles, namely road train (lorry with trailer) or articulated vehicle (road tractor with semi-trailer), designed to carry goods
Cross-trade is international road transport between two different countries performed by a road motor vehicle registered in a third country.
National transport is Road transport between two places (a place of loading and a place of unloading) located in the same country by a vehicle registered in that country. 
International transport is Road transport between two places (a place of loading and a place of unloading) in two different countries and cabotage by road. It may involve transit through one or more additional country or countries.
Cross trade is International road transport between two different countries performed by a road motor vehicle registered in a third country.
Transit is any loaded or empty road motor vehicle, which enters and leaves a country at different points by whatever means of transport, provided the total journey within the country is by road and that there is no loading or unloading in the country.
Goods carried by road are any goods moved by goods vehicle
Place of loading/unloading of a goods road vehicle on another mode of transport

• Place of loading (of the goods road transport vehicle on another mode of transport): The place of loading is the first place where the goods road motor vehicle was loaded on to another mode of transport (usually a ship or a rail wagon).
• Place of unloading (of the goods road transport vehicle from another mode of transport): The place of unloading is the last place where the goods road motor vehicle was unloaded from another mode of transport (usually a ship or a rail wagon).

The reporting unit for road freight transport statistics is the goods road transport vehicle or the local unit (a site of a company, as identified in the national business register).

As the total number of statistical units (most commonly vehicles) is very large, sample surveys are carried out to collect information.  

The data provided are goods vehicles registered in the declaring country uniquely.

weekly survey - all weeks of the reference yaer

weekly survey

Data are collected in tonnes, tonne-kilometres, vehicle-kilometres and in number of journeys (journey data) or in number of basic transport operations (BTO (goods related data)).

2023

The road data are collected on a quarterly basis and are reported to Eurostat five months after the end of the reference period.

National level:

•  Koninklijk Besluit (KB 2014/11554) van 9 oktober betreffende een versplicht statistisch onderzoek naar het goederenvervoer over de weg voor eigen rekening of voor rekening van derden door de Algemene Directie Statistiek - Statistics Belgium

European level: 

• REGULATION (EU) N° 70/2012   

National level :

• Ministry of Transport
• Universities and reserach institutions
• Students

From Eurostat :

Eurostat submits annually semi-aggregated data (data exchange tables, see Commission Regulation (EU) No 202/2010 amending the Commission Regulation (EC) 6/2003) back to the reporting countries so that they can compile the total road freight transport on their national territories, including the operations by national hauliers and also those of all other reporting countries.

These data exchange tables include more detailed breakdowns than the publicly available tables. They also include, for each value, the information on the number of observations that the estimates are based on. In this way, the reporting countries can estimate the reliability of results that they aggregate from the data exchange tables.

National level:

•  Koninklijk Besluit (KB 2014/11554) van 9 oktober betreffende een versplicht statistisch onderzoek naar het goederenvervoer over de weg voor eigen rekening of voor rekening van derden door de Algemene Directie Statistiek - Statistics Belgium

European level:

• Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.

Only aggregated data are disseminated.

Road freight transport statistics is published yearly according the release calender of the NSI. Publication is on the website (statbel.fgov.be).

The release calendar is publicly available on the website of the NSI.

Main results of road freight transport statistics are available on the website of Statistics Belgium (statbel.fgov.be).

Road freight transport statistics are published yearly according the release calender of the NSI. Publication is on the website (statbel.fgov.be).

Yearly - about 10 months after the end of the reference period

Road freight transport statistics is published yearly according the release calender of the NSI. Publication is on the website (statbel.fgov.be).

News release are published after 10 months of the end of the reference period.

Road freight transport statistics is published yearly according the release calender of the NSI. Publication is on the website (statbel.fgov.be).

News release are published after 10 months of the end of the reference period

No online database available.

Only aggregated data are disseminated.

none

National characteristics of surveys, conducted in the reporting countries in 2017, were published in Methodologies used in surveys of road freight transport in Member States, EFTA and Candidate Countries. This latter publication also contains data on response rates, vehicle registers' quality, sampling rates and statistical errors in surveys carried out in 2016.

According to general rules, procedures and documentation of the NSI.

Before data are sent to Eurostat and before official release of the results on the Statbel-website, data are validated according the NSI rules and procedures.

no information available

The key users of road freight transport statistics collected according to the REGULATION (EU) N° 70/2012  are:

• Ministry of Mobility & Transport
• Universities and reserach institutions
• Users involved in the road transport industry
• Students

not known

not known

Overall accuracy of the road freight transport statistics data is good. The processing with several plausibilty checks as well as checks done before transmitting data to Eurostat provides a satisfactory accuracy of the data.

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The accuracy of the data depends on the data delivered by the respondent. In case of doubt, the respondent is contacted.

Data are normally updated once per quarter.

If new annual data (all four quarters of a calendar year) have become available, the annual datasets are also updated together with the quarterly datasets.

Road freight data are transmitted to Eurostat within 5 months after the end of the reference period, as specified in the Regulation (EU) 70//2012.

Data are collected and send to Eurostat on a NUTS3-level.

Results are compared with the previous quarter/year and the same quarter of the previous year.

There are no cross-domain coherence checks so far.

Data published by Eurostat and by the NSI are coherent since they use the same data as input.

The response burden is put on the respondents.

Before data are sent to Eurostat and before official release of the results on the Statbel-website, data are validated according the NSI rules and procedures.

Revised data are sent to Eurostat and published yearly.

Sampling register used for the survey

Name of register:

Register of Motor Vehicles

Name of organisation who maintains the register:

Ministry of Mobility and Transport

Frequency of update:

Monthly

Frequency of access to draw the samples:

Weekly

Arrangements for accessing the register:

The register is obtained by file transfer

Information obtained from the register:

Name and address of owner, license plate number, chassis number, VAT-number, load capacity, type of vehicle, type of body, brand.

Stratification: load capacity and type of body

Procedure for reminders:

One reminder is sent after 1 month.

Response rate: 50-60 %

Data are collected on a weekly basis and calculated on a quarterly basis.

Sampling methodology

Statistical unit:

Tractive vehicle

Types of units excluded:

Agricultural vehicles, military vehicles, public administration and public service vehicles and vehicles not destined to the transport of goods.

Vehicles with a load capacity of less than 1 tonne.

Time unit:

1 week

Time units of quarter 1 of 2023 included in the survey:

All (13 weeks)

Stratification:

The sample is stratified according to 2 criteria: own account versus hire or reward and load capacity (9 classes): this gives 18 strata.

Recording of weight of goods:

Gross weight of goods is collected, i.e. containers swap bodies and pallets are excluded.

Recording of journey data sent to Eurostat:

Single stop: There is a 1-to-1 relation between journeys and goods (1 journey = 1 (main) good).

Multi stop: The distance taken into account for the calculation of the tonne-kilometres is the 2/3 of the total course in loading.

Collection/delivery: The distance taken into account for the calculation of the tonne-kilometres is the half of the total course in loading.

Calculation of weighting factors:

N = number of vehicles in the register (in a stratum)

S = number of questionnaires used in analysis (in A1 dataset)

S’ = number of vehicles for which no activity was recorded, but vehicles could be considered as active (holiday, no work, etc.)

Optional variables covered:

A1. Vehicle-related variables:

• possibility of using vehicles for combined transport (YES)
• vehicle operator’s NACE Rev. 2 at class level (four-digit level) (NO)
• vehicle empty kilometres (YES)

A2. Journey-related variables: none

• axle configuration according to the nomenclature defined in the Regulation on road transport statistics (YES)
• place of loading, if any, of the road transport vehicle on another means of transport (NO)
• place of unloading, if any, of the road transport vehicle from another means of transport (NO)
• Degree of loading: situation ‘fully loaded’ (procedure 2) or ‘not fully loaded’ (procedure 1) of the goods road transport vehicle during the journey in question, in terms of maximum volume of space used during the journey (procedure 0 = by convention for unladen journeys) (YES)

A3. Goods-related variables: none

•  type of freight (Cargo types) as defined in the Regulation (YES)

Additional variables collected compared to the legal requirements:

Environmental impact related variables: none

National level :

 comparison with results of previous quarter and same quarter of the previous year

From Eurostat :

Since 1999, micro-data from the reporting countries have to be submitted according to Commission Regulation 2163/2001. The data are then checked and validated by EUROSTAT (verification of many different codes used (NUTS 3, numeric or alphabetic variables) correctness of linked questionnaires in the different dataset, etc ). Detected errors are then reported back to the data sender with the request for correction, this is an iterative process until at least 99.5% of all data records are validated and loaded in the database.

After various plausibility checks, the data received from the respondents are compiled into quarterly data following the structure of the data sets which are preset by regulation (EC) 70/2012

Road freight data are not adjusted.

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