While freight trucks generate only three percent (on average) of urban vehicle-miles traveled , their impacts on congestion, pavement, and emissions are disproportionately high. Using methods that accurately capture truck travel is therefore important to achieve many regional goals. To accomplish this, an innovative truck touring model was developed for District Seven of the Florida Department of Transportation. The Tampa, Florida metropolitan region plays a prominent role in goods distribution due to its proximity to consumer markets, rail terminals, water ports, and warehousing and distribution facilities. The model focuses on urban freight distribution and includes some longer-distance operations.

The modeling framework includes a truck tour generation module, an ordered-response number of stops model, and a model of stop locations. Agent-based methods are used to enhance the ability of the model to estimate the impacts of tolls, land use and other factors on truck travel.

The model includes both economically-oriented business information as well as logistics-oriented trip and tour information. The inclusion of both perspectives enriches the model by providing a more complete context for goods distribution.