Applications of Passive GPS Data to Characterize the Movement of Freight Trucks—A Case Study in the Calgary Region of Canada

The movement of trucks represents a significant portion of travel. Surveys have traditionally been used to measure truck movement, but this costly and limited data collection method typically involves in-person interviews and requiring high workload. This study explores different ways in which passive truck GPS data can be used to complement traditional data collection methods, for obtaining detailed information about the travel behaviors of freight trucks. First, we develop a heuristic-based model to identify truck stops. A new methodology is proposed to classify truck stops into a primary or secondary sto, which make identifying trip purposes possible. Primary stops are defined as the locations where the loading or unloading of the goods takes place. Secondary stops are those associated with all other purposes, including refueling, and driver breaks. Finally, we develop a destination choice model for modeling truck movements. This model applies a discrete choice modeling technique to distribute truck trips within the Calgary region, Canada. We test the utility function in the destination choice model to include of business establishment data, travel impedances, and other dummy variables that are likely to influence truck demand. The results show that a combination of trucks’ dwelling times and their entropy can be used to classify truck stops by purpose. This study also shows the potential of using passive GPS data to gain additional insights into truck movements characterization and truck trip distribution modeling.