An analysis of inter- and intra provincial commercial vehicle activity chains

Abstract

The objective of this research is to contribute to the body of knowledge on commercial vehicle activity chain characteristics. To achieve this, the state-of-practice in freight modelling as well as contributions to the body of knowledge are reviewed, and opportunities to extend this knowledge are identified. Activity chains are extracted from the GPS logs of 41 711 commercial vehicles which all subscribe to Digicore Fleet Management 's tracking service. The extracted activity chains are analysed to determine whether structural, temporal and spatial differences exist. Inter-provincial traffic, also referred to as through-traffic, which is the focus of this research, is analysed in more detail to assess the impact that they have on the Gauteng road network and traffic congestion. The main findings are that the activity chain characteristics of through- and within-traffic are quite similar. They differ, however, quite extensively on different days of the week due to various factors as described in the research. The research is of value to any instance dealing with disaggregate commercial vehicle modelling. It could also be of benefit to, among others, government and businesses using commercial vehicles.