QUEBEC CITY, Que. — A study recently released by Quebec’s Transport Ministry shows just how much trucks based there travel out of province.

In fact, out of 240,000 long distance hauls carried out during a sample week in the fall of 1999, fully 44 per cent (105,000) travelled out of province to destinations in the U.S. or elsewhere in Canada.

The same study found 54 per cent of truck traffic (or 130,000 trips) travelled primarily to Quebec destinations, and two per cent travelled exclusively to destinations inside the province.

The study also found Highways 20 and the 401 between Montreal and Toronto, were the most travelled routes for trucks heading in and out of province, three times more so than Highway 15 through the Lacolle border crossing. Also revealed was the fact that fully 58 per cent of kilometres travelled by long-distance haulers in Quebec was travelled on roadways outside the province.

The Montreal region was of course a major destination for truck traffic in Quebec; 63 per cent of truck trips (152,000) passed through the area every week, of which only 21 per cent did not stop there. Highway 40 in Montreal was the major thoroughfare for long-distance trucking in Quebec, with more than 100,000 truck trips along it every week.

Three categories of products: wood, paper and printed products; food products; and minerals and mineral products accounted for 56 per cent of hauls, 66 per cent of the total weight of items hauled and 57 per cent of the total distance travelled by truck.

Thirty-eight per cent of trips inside Quebec were deadheading, compared with an 18 per cent deadhead rate for trips to and from the U.S. Just 60 per cent of truck trips hauled full loads.

The Quebec study relied on figures collected by the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA). Data was collected thanks to the interception of 16,800 heavy-duty trucks at some 50 sites along Quebec roadways, as well as 7,900 interceptions elsewhere in Canada, of trucks which had travelled at least in part along Quebec roadways.

The study is especially useful for parties wishing to gain insight into Quebec’s trucking industry.
The document is available to the public and can be accessed by visiting www.mtq.gouv.qc.ca