Minister of Transport , Mobility and Urban Agenda

Subdirección General de Estudios Económicos y Estadísticas

Paseo de la Castellana nº 67. 28071 Madrid. Spain

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 others, 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 )".

From 2008 onwards, goods have been classified according to "Standard goods classification for transport statistics 2007, NST 2007".

The principles of the two classifications are different: NST/R was based on physical characteristics of goods, whereas the production process where the goods are coming from is the basis of NST 2007. In this way, NST 2007 belongs to the same family of classifications as CPA ("Statistical Classification of Products by Activity in the European Economic Community, 2008 version").

The regional coding is done in conformity with European legislation: "NUTS Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics" (see also NUTS). The Directives data before 1999 were collected at level 2 of NUTS; since 1999 the Council Regulation 1172/98 road freight data have been collected at level 3 of NUTS. Simplified coding was allowed in Articles 5 § 4 of Regulation 1172/98 until the end of the reference year 2007. Before this, full regional coding was obligatory for national transport only; for international transport a transitional period allowed the regional coding of the places of loading and unloading with country codes only. Full regional coding of international journeys has been applied for the whole EEA area from the beginning of 2008 (reference year).

Economic activity class of the vehicle owner is collected in Spain (is an optional variable in Regulation (EU) No 70/2012). 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 RAMON "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 variable type of cargo is collected in Spain (is an optional variable in Regulation (EU) No 70/2012). It  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).

Statistics produced on the basis of Regulation (EU) No 70/2012 cover the following road freight transport operations by heavy goods vehicles registered in Spain:

• Commercial road freight transport (NACE Rev.1.1 I6024; NACE Rev.2 H494), referred to as "Hire or reward" road freight transport.
• Road freight transport by private vehicles and by vehicles owned by companies classified in other classes than professional road freight transport. This kind of transport is identified as "Own account" road freight and it covers transport operations by manufacturing industry, construction, trade and other companies.

Operations by small goods vehicles (less than 3.5 tons weight capacity and less than 6 tons of maximum permissible weight) are not covered in these statistics.

Data are based on sample surveys.

The main concepts used in Road freight statistics are the following:

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

Basic transport operation is the displacement of a single class of good from a place of origin, in which the merchandise is loaded, to one of destiny, in which it is discharged. Also included are the so-called "empty operations", that is, the displacements made without goods between a place of unloading and another of loading.

Goods carried by road. It is the movable thing that moves from one place to another by goods vehicle.  When a vehicle transports two kinds of different goods, it is considered that it carries out two transport operations.

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.

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.

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.

The number of goods vehicles in Spain in recent years is close to 370,000. A sample surveys are carried out to collect information.  

The data provided are goods vehicles registered in Spain uniquely.

The first reference year of reporting road goods data was 1999.

Not applicable.

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

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:

•  Plan Estadístico Nacional 2021-2024 (Real Decreto 1110/2020, de 15 de diciembre)

European level: 

REGULATION (EU) N° 70/2012   

National level:

 The Ministry makes available to the researchers files with the individualized anonymized annual data of the Survey. The users sign an agreement of use.

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:

•  Statistical Law No. 12/1989 “Ley de la Función Estadística Pública” of May 9, 1989
•  Law No. 13/1996 “Medidas Fiscales, Administrativas y del Orden Social” of December 30, 1996.

The Law 12/1989, of May 9, of the Public Statistical Function obliges not to divulge in any case the personal data whatever their origin. It is understood that personal data refer to individuals or legal entities that either allow the immediate identification of the interested parties, or lead by their structure, content or degree of disaggregation to the indirect identification of the same.

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.

The Ministry adopts the necessary measures so that the protection of confidential data is effective, from the collection of data to its publication.

The data that allow the identification of the informant are not published

Advance dissemination of release calendar:

An advance release calendar that shows the precise release dates for the coming year are disseminated before the end of each year.

The calendar is disseminated on Ministry's website.

https://www.mitma.gob.es/informacion-para-el-ciudadano/informacion-estadistica/calendario-de-disponibilidad-de-las-estadisticas

The data is disseminated simultaneously according to the publication schedule to all interested parties, through its publication on the Ministry's website.

The quarterly data is disseminated within two months after the reference period.

Currently there are no regular news releases on road freight transport.

The data are published on the Ministry's website, according to the release calendar.

The series with the most relevant quarterly data from 1993 to the present is available on the Ministry's website.

It also includes detailed annual publications since 2006.

Access to road freight micro-data may be granted following certain admissibility rules and safety conditions.

It is possible to apply for customised requests. At the time of attending and processing these requests, the corresponding limitations on confidentiality or accuracy are taken into account.

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.

In addition to these metadata pages and the Eurostat reports, there aren't additional national quality reports.

The methodology follows the Eurostat guidelines.

A procedure has been designed to control and validate the quality of the data throughout the entire process.

There are validation controls in the questionnaire, a data checking process in collection units and a control from the developer unit to ensure the quality of the statistic.

The survey meets all the criteria of consistency, comparability, accuracy and punctuality.

The survey is subject to Eurostat's quality assessment: methodological comparisons, precision calculations and Benchmarking.

The main users of the road freight statistics are:

- Ministries and other public organisms

- Autonomous Communities

- Companies

- Researchers and universities

- Eurostat

Direct use as an indicator for the analysis of economic activity and transport flows.

Indirect use: studies executed by researchers.

No satisfaction survey has been carried out.

The survey provide all the information required by the national and international regulations related to this statistical operation.

Small goods vehicles (with loading capacity below 3.5 tonnes) and vehicles registered in others countries are not covered by the survey data.

The sampling design tries to minimize sampling errors and the different survey processes are intended to eliminate or decrease its errors in the collection stage (response rate and filter control) as well as in edition and imputation stages.

The main source of error is probably non-response. There is no evidence that the response rate is distributed in a way that generates a bias in the index or its evolution.

As for non-sampling errors, different processes are directed to eliminate or reduce as far as possible such errors.

According to the results obtained by Eurostat, the standard percentage error (95% confidence) of annual estimates for tonnes transported, tonne-kilometres performed and total kilometres travelled loaded is not more than 5% for total goods road transport and for national goods road transport.

Different controls of non-sampling errors are carried out throughout the whole process.

Coverage: The impact of imperfection of the relevant business register on the quality of the key statistics is considered as low.  An attempt is made to contact the informant at least six different times by telephone or by e-mail and two by postal mail. The final response coverage is always greater than 70%.

Survey instrument and interviewer: the survey uses simple questionnaires where it appears a contact person who could resolve any doubts about it. These contact persons are prepared to answer any questions. In most cases the survey is answered by telephone, with the help of specialized agent.

Methods used for taking into account the unit non-response: Corrector factor in the weighting procedure for imputation.

Partial non-response: non exist partial non-response If an informant can’t provide all the information, it is considered as unit non-response. These cases are practically null.

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.

The comparability between EU countries is ensured by Regulation (EU) No 70/2012, which provides the statistical homogeneity with other European Union countries that spread the same information for their respective industrial sector. This ensures a good comparability between national data and good-quality European aggregates.

The methodology is common throughout the national territory, which guarantees comparability between all the autonomous communities.

The time series are completely homogeneous since 2002.

From 1993 to 2001, the series does not include “intra-municipal” transport (origin and destination in the same municipality)

Comparisons are made with other data sources or statistical domains (specific studies, evolution of other economic variables, etc.).

Coherence among variables is compared in all stages of the statistical process. The aggregates are always consistent with their main sub-aggregates.

The budgetary credit necessary to finance this statistic is around 700 thousand euros per year.

We do not foresee revisions after the sending of final data to Eurostat and the release at national level.

No revisions have been made in recent years.

Sampling register used for the survey

Name of register:

Registro de Empresas y Actividades de Transporte

Name of organisation who maintains the register:

Minister of Transport , Mobility and Urban Agenda

Frequency of update:

Continuously

Frequency of access to draw the samples:

Once a month

Arrangements for accessing the register:

The register belongs to the Ministry

Information obtained from the register:

Name, registration number, address, type of vehicle, type of transport (own account or hire or reward), range of authorisation of action of the vehicle (local, national, international), year of registration, load capacity and maximum permissible weight, region (Autonomous Community) where the vehicle is registered.

Used in stratification: Type of transport, region (Autonomous Community) where the vehicle is registered, load capacity and type of vehicle.

Procedure for reminders:

During the week of reference and the following four weeks, daily phone calls are made.

During this period, if the company is not found, new addresses and telephone numbers of the companies are looked for.

Data are collected continuously every month of the year. 

Sampling methodology

Statistical unit:

Tractive vehicle

Types of units excluded:

'Light' transport vehicles: less than 3.5 tonnes weight capacity and less than 6 tonnes of maximum permissible weight

Special vehicles with very high weight capacity or dimensions, which need a special registration number.

Military vehicles and those belonging to Public Administrations.

Vehicles whose use is not for transport of goods: excavators, rollers, etc.

Time unit:

1 week

Time units of quarter 4 of 2022 included in the survey:

All (13 weeks)

Stratification:

There are 10 strata (in proportion to the frame):

• Type of transport:

1: own account

2: hire or reward

• Type of vehicle and weight capacity:

1: lorries of 3.6 to 10 tonnes

2: lorries of 10.1 to 13.5 tonnes

3: lorries of over 13.5 tonnes

4: tractors

• Region (Autonomous Community) where the vehicle is registered

1: Islas Canarias

2: Remaining regions

Recording of weight of goods:

When possible, the weight of containers is excluded, but in most cases the informant only knows the total weight carried. The weight of goods rarely excludes swap bodies and pallets.

Recording of journey data sent to Eurostat:

Multi stop: Multi-stop journeys are coded as consignments.

Collection/delivery: Without points of loading and/or unloading of the goods,

Tonne-kilometres = maximum tonnes * kilometres / 2.

Only the main type of goods is requested (but all tonnes).

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.)

T = number of weeks in the month

Optional variables covered:

A1. Vehicle-related variables:

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

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)
• place of unloading, if any, of the road transport vehicle from another means of transport (YES)
• 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:

• 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:

About 400 different validation controls are applied

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.

Each record is independent and complete. The data is added weekly

Road freight data are not seasonally adjusted.

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