Multiple linear regression analysis of Canada's freight transportation framework

Background: Finding trends in freight transportation activities enables businesses and policy makers to build an understanding of freight transportation patterns and their impact on logistics planning when making investments in a region's transportation infrastructure and intermodal freight transport system. To the best of our knowledge, there is limited literature and data-driven analysis about trends in transportation mode choices and the influencing factors in Atlantic Canada. Methods: In this study, a data-driven method has been used to analyze the Canadian Freight dataset to identify trends in transportation activities within Maritime, Canada. Freight transportation mode, product categories, distance, number/weight of shipments, and revenue were examined. Results: The results revealed that the top five product categories exported from Atlantic provinces to the rest of Canada, the US, and Mexico are miscellaneous items, food products, forest products, minerals, and other manufactured goods, where Truck for Hire is the most deployed mode of transportation. A multiple linear regression analysis indicated that the weight, distance, and number of shipments are positively and rather strongly correlated with revenue generation. Conclusions: This study provides a unique overview of Canadian Freight Analysis Framework (CFAF) data with a focus on maritime activities.