Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
Road freight data collection consists of three datasets with quarterly periodicity:
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.
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.
Goods related variables dataset which contain among others the type of goods transported and their weight and distance travelled, regions of loading and unloading.
3.2. Classification system
Statistics on carriage of goods by road apply the following statistical classifications:
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).
3.3. Coverage - sector
Irish registered goods vehicles with an unladen weight of 2,000 kg and over.
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).
3.5. Statistical unit
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).
3.6. Statistical population
As the total number of statistical units (most commonly vehicles) is very large, sample surveys are carried out to collect information.
3.7. Reference area
The data provided are goods vehicles registered in the declaring country uniquely.
3.8. Coverage - Time
2006 to 2024.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
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)).
The road data are collected weekly and reported on a quarterly basis to Eurostat five months after the end of the reference period.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
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.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
National level:
The Statistics Act, 1993 provides a modern legislative basis for the compilation and dissemination of official statistics, the obligation on the CSO to treat all individual information relating to persons or concerns as strictly confidential and to use such information solely for statistical purposes.
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.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
All data are treated as strictly confidential in accordance with Part V of the Statistics Act, 1993 and cannot be accessed under the Freedom of Information Act, 1997.
8.1. Release calendar
The quarterly Road Freight Transport Survey results are published between five and six months after the end of the reference periods.
This latter publication also contains data on response rates, vehicle registers' quality, sampling rates and statistical errors in surveys carried out in 2022.
We do not conduct a user satisfaction survey. However, we do meet with our users to discuss the outputs of the survey and provide them with assistance.
12.3. Completeness
The file is fully complete in accordance with Eurostat regulatory requirements.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
There is no treatment of non-response for a unit in the statistical processing. In 2024, out of a total of 24,205 vehicles surveyed, a satisfactory return was received in respect of 9,417 vehicles representing an overall response rate of 39%.
13.2. Sampling error
The variability is expressed by means of the coefficient of variation. This coefficient gives the relative size of the “sampling error” (variability) present in an estimate compared with the estimate itself. In general, estimates can be said to have a relative precision of twice their coefficient of variation. For 2024, the coefficient of variation for tonne-km was estimated at 1.99%.
Measurement Error is not measured in this survey. However, the following points relating to the questionnaire should be noted:
The purpose of the survey and details of how the respondent is selected is clearly stated on the front of the form.
An instruction booklet is included with the survey form to assist the respondent in completing the survey from.
It is ensured as much as possible that the questionnaire is clear with definitions provided as appropriate.
The survey form is organised into distinct sections to assist the respondent in completing the survey form.
A telephone number and e-mail address are provided on the front of the form in the event that the respondent needs assistance in completing the form.
An online questionnaire eQ is available on request.
13.3. Non-sampling error
While every effort is made to ensure that the returns received are correct in all respects it is inevitable that some minor non-sampling errors will remain undetected. However, systems are put in place in the data entry system to keep these errors to a minimum. This involves running a series of system edit checks to test for consistency, the use of classification coding to ensure that all keyed values are valid and the use of range checking and cross checks to ensure that the data is comparable. A wide range of validation checks are also carried out in the DMS to ensure the keyed values are correct and within the range of parameters set out for data entry.
14.1. Timeliness
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.
14.2. Punctuality
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.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
The trends in the annual data are compared with those of other European countries who use the same methodology to compile their results.
15.2. Comparability - over time
Quarterly data are compared with previous periods to ensure consistency.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
The published Road Freight Transport Survey data is compared with data from other member states in the EU countries to identify if similar trends exist. The results are also checked regularly with quarterly published data from Eurostat on road freight activity to determine if trends are similar. Any differences in trends are closely examined so that the reasons for any differences can be identified.
There are no provisional results published for the survey and in general revisions are not expected in the data.
17.2. Data revision - practice
In 2008, there were changes made in the methodologies for estimating the active number of goods vehicles and the grossing of the survey results which resulted in revisions to data over the period 1998 to 2007. Since then no major revisions have taken place. We do not envisage any future revisions.
18.1. Source data
Sampling register used for the survey
Name of register:
Goods Vehicle File.
Name of organisation who maintains the register:
Department of Transport.
Frequency of update:
The goods vehicle file is updated on a daily basis within the Department.
Frequency of access to draw the samples:
Every 8 weeks.
Arrangements for accessing the register:
Every 8 weeks, the CSO receives an updated goods vehicle file from the Vehicle Registration Unit of the Department of Transport. This file contains details of all vehicles currently taxed as goods vehicles in the State. The file is used to update the CSO’s Register of goods vehicles which contains only vehicles with an un-laden weight of 2 000 kg and over. The CSO register is updated each time to reflect any newly licensed vehicles or vehicles that are no longer in use (these are deleted). Vehicles on the CSO register which have not been taxed in over 3 years are also deleted from the register.
Information obtained from the register:
The data obtained from the Department of Transport file are as follows:
Year and month when the taxation certificate on the vehicle expires;
Motor tax office code (2 digit) in which the vehicle is taxed;
Unladen weight of the vehicle;
Registration number of the vehicle;
Society of Motor Industry code of the vehicle;
Year of manufacture of the vehicle;
Taxation use (own account/hire or reward - 1 digit code);
License Code (to show if the vehicle is licensed for carriage of owner’s goods only or for hire and reward);
Fuel type of vehicle (1 digit code);
Body type of vehicle (2 digit code);
Name and address of owner of vehicle;
Year of first registration of vehicle;
Make (3 digit character code) & model (3 digit code) of vehicle;
New/second hand (1 digit code).
Two new variables are created when updating the CSO Register:There are 9 sample selection strata based on the 9 different combinations of the age and size categories.
Age – calculated from the year of manufacture of the vehicle (3 age categories);
Size – calculated from the un laden weight of the vehicle (3 size categories).
Procedure for reminders:
A final reminder is sent if the questionnaire has not been returned by post or online within 12 days of the due date.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Weekly survey.
18.3. Data collection
Sampling methodology
Statistical unit:
Tractive vehicle.
Types of units excluded:
The following vehicles are excluded:
Vehicles with an unladen weight of less than 2 000 kg;
Vehicles not registered for the transport of goods;
Vehicles taxed as non-commercial vehicles.
Time unit:
1 week;
All (13 weeks).
Stratification:
There are 20 strata which are used for grossing based on year of manufacture, unladen weight, taxation class and year of first registration. These are aggregated to 9 strata for sample selection. Different sampling rates are applied to different selection strata. 15 % of vehicles in selection strata 1, 4 and 7, 50 % of vehicles in selection strata 2, 5 and 8, and 90 % in strata 3, 6 and 9 are sampled. Any vehicle selected is only sampled once in any survey year.
Recording of weight of goods:
Gross weight of goods is collected; containers swap bodies and pallets are excluded, but pallets might be included.
Recording of journey data sent to Eurostat:
Single stop: Our practice is to record only one goods type per journey. This would be recorded as a mixed load if there are more than one goods commodity carried;
Multi stop: Our practice is to record only one origin and one destination for each journey. For each journey, the origin, destination, number of collection stops and weight of goods collected and the number of delivery stops and weight of goods delivered are recorded. Tonne-km for the journey as a whole is derived by the processing system;
Collection/delivery: Our practice is to record only one origin and destination for a journey. The origin and destination, number of collection stops and weight of goods collected and the number of delivery stops and weight of goods delivered are recorded. There is no facility to enter tonne-kilometres on the data entry system so tkm are calculated using formulas for a combination of collection and delivery stops.
Calculation of weighting factors:
When calculating the grossing factor per stratum, the average active vehicle population per stratum is first estimated. This is done by adding the number of vehicles in each stratum at the beginning and end of the calendar quarter and dividing by 2 which gives the average population of vehicles per strata. This figure serves as the benchmark figure for each stratum to which the survey estimates are grossed up to. The number of vehicles with activity during the quarter (vehicles included in A1) is then added to the number of non-working vehicles during the quarter for each stratum to give the total number of active vehicles in each stratum. The grossing factor is then calculated by dividing the average number of vehicles in the stratum by the number of active vehicles in the stratum multiplied by 13 (13 weeks in the quarter);
N = average number of vehicles on register in stratum for quarter (sum of number of vehicles on register in a stratum at the beginning and the end of a quarter divided by 2;
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.
No calibration is used.
Optional variables covered:
A1 Vehicle-related variables:
possibility of using vehicles for combined transport (NO);
vehicle empty kilometres (YES);
vehicle operator’s NACE Rev. 2 at class level (four-digit level) (NO - 2 digit only).
A2 Journey-related variables:
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 (YES - at ports);
place of unloading, if any, of the road transport vehicle from another means of transport (YES - at ports);
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) (NO).
A3 Goods-related variables:
type of freight (Cargo types) as defined in the Regulation (YES).
Additional variables collected compared to the legal requirements:
Environmental impact-related variables:
Type of fuel used.
18.4. Data validation
National level :
Edit checks are carried out quarterly at unit level in the data management system. A second round of edit checking takes place using a validation program in SAS at the end of each quarter to ensure that there is consistency between vehicle and journey data. For all potential errors detected individual survey returns are re-examined and corrections made where necessary. Once the quarterly data is finalised and results are produced, these figures are then checked for consistency with previous quarters, and year-to-date analysis is also undertaken. In some cases other data sources are used to investigate the plausibility of the level of activity in certain sectors or geographic regions in a particular quarter.
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.
Copies of the current release and historical annual publications (with a back series to 1995) and methodology are available from the CSo website (Road freight transport tsurvey).
Historical releases and publications: (Archive) - (select year).
Road freight data collection consists of three datasets with quarterly periodicity:
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.
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.
Goods related variables dataset which contain among others the type of goods transported and their weight and distance travelled, regions of loading and unloading.
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.
The road data are collected weekly and reported on a quarterly basis to Eurostat five months after the end of the reference period.
There is no treatment of non-response for a unit in the statistical processing. In 2024, out of a total of 24,205 vehicles surveyed, a satisfactory return was received in respect of 9,417 vehicles representing an overall response rate of 39%.
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)).
The goods vehicle file is updated on a daily basis within the Department.
Frequency of access to draw the samples:
Every 8 weeks.
Arrangements for accessing the register:
Every 8 weeks, the CSO receives an updated goods vehicle file from the Vehicle Registration Unit of the Department of Transport. This file contains details of all vehicles currently taxed as goods vehicles in the State. The file is used to update the CSO’s Register of goods vehicles which contains only vehicles with an un-laden weight of 2 000 kg and over. The CSO register is updated each time to reflect any newly licensed vehicles or vehicles that are no longer in use (these are deleted). Vehicles on the CSO register which have not been taxed in over 3 years are also deleted from the register.
Information obtained from the register:
The data obtained from the Department of Transport file are as follows:
Year and month when the taxation certificate on the vehicle expires;
Motor tax office code (2 digit) in which the vehicle is taxed;
Unladen weight of the vehicle;
Registration number of the vehicle;
Society of Motor Industry code of the vehicle;
Year of manufacture of the vehicle;
Taxation use (own account/hire or reward - 1 digit code);
License Code (to show if the vehicle is licensed for carriage of owner’s goods only or for hire and reward);
Fuel type of vehicle (1 digit code);
Body type of vehicle (2 digit code);
Name and address of owner of vehicle;
Year of first registration of vehicle;
Make (3 digit character code) & model (3 digit code) of vehicle;
New/second hand (1 digit code).
Two new variables are created when updating the CSO Register:There are 9 sample selection strata based on the 9 different combinations of the age and size categories.
Age – calculated from the year of manufacture of the vehicle (3 age categories);
Size – calculated from the un laden weight of the vehicle (3 size categories).
Procedure for reminders:
A final reminder is sent if the questionnaire has not been returned by post or online within 12 days of the due date.
Quarterly dissemination.
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.
The trends in the annual data are compared with those of other European countries who use the same methodology to compile their results.
Quarterly data are compared with previous periods to ensure consistency.
