Using Road Freight Movements Survey data to estimate road freight transport quotients and regional road freight flows in Australia

Australia comprises states of varying climates, natural resource endowments, geographic area and population size. This has resulted in a diversity of regional or state economies, regional road freight flows and road networks to serve these needs. In this paper, the concept of location quotients is first examined in terms of its theoretical basis. It is then applied to Australian Bureau of Statistics 2014 Australian Road Freight Movements survey data to calculate “road freight transport” quotients across states in Australia in terms of tonnes and tonne-km, by state of origin-destination and for different commodity types. Origin and destination flows are then compared to determine the extent to which the different states are “outward-orientated” in terms of direction of flows and in what types of goods. Finally, the paper also explores implications of the study for policy analysis as well as future uses of the data, taking account of issues regarding the reliability of the survey data.