How are vocations defined and derived?
Vocations are defined using a model that groups vehicles based on similar driving characteristics within a given geographical region. A vehicle that drives long distances with few stops may be classified as a long-haul vehicle, whereas a vehicle with shorter distances and many stops may fall into the Door-to-Door vocation. Vocations are updated monthly and derived from three months of historical driving data. The classification is based on the patterns based by similar vehicles in a region, not on strict thresholds like stop count or drive distance.
If a vehicle’s driving behavior changes significantly, it may be reclassified into a different vocation. Vocation changes occur at most once per month.
- Door-to-door
- Many short stops, such as last-mile delivery, waste collection
- Hub-and-spoke
- Multiple round trips from a central hub, such as on-demand/auto-parts delivery
- Short-haul
- Generally within 150 air miles, such as HVAC, beverage distribution
- Regional
- Wide range, usually returns to the same area, such as building supplies, fuel carriers
- Long-haul
- Very large range, no consistent rest location, such as freight long haul
If there isn't enough information, the label appears as Unknown
For more information on vocations, read our whitepaper A Vehicle's Purpose: Providing Vocation Insights to Transportation Planners.