The Ontario Ministry of Transportation periodically undertakes on-highway surveys of commercial vehicles. In 1988, it surveyed orne 19, 00~ trucks to obtain in. formation for it highway planning and. prot~ ct! on mandate.. Durmg the course of the survey, the characteristics of the vehicles were documented, and data collected on carriers, area of registration, load utilization commodity type and weight, and trip origin and destination. As well a profile of the Ontario. truck driver was generated. Surveys wer~ undertaken at 57 locations scattered through ut the province at pe~ manent inspections stat. ion, laybys and some border crossing pomts. At everal of the• tat ion, interviewing was done duriug each of the fo. ur ea on. An outline of the methodology u ed in the 1988 Ontario Commercial Vehicle urvey and some principal finding are presented in thi paper.

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation periodically conducts roadside surveys of commercial vehicle and freight movements on the Ontario highway network to collect information for planning and operational purposes. The primary objective of the 1988 Ontario Commercial Ve? i~ le. survey was to provide a current profile of trucking act1V1ty m the Provmce for the planning, delivery, and evaluation of Ministry programs. Undertaking the survey during 1988 was done to continue providing trend information and identification on the basis of 5-year intervals (previous such surveys were done in 1978 and 1983). Beyond the primary objective, the study was also aimed at gathering information on the