The traffic moved between two cities by a long-haul carrier is commonly termed a lane. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate methods to assess the profitability of individual lanes. To tackle the problem of lane profitability, one needs to have accurate and valid data of revenue and costs. In view of the importance of properly prepared data, a secondary purpose of this study is to recommend accounting procedures to record data in a usable form for further studies of this kind. The concept of revenue for a lane is not difficult to understand. However, the concept of cost for a lane raises some difficult questions. Since a terminal handles traffic from a variety of lanes, the crux of the problem is to disaggregate the terminal costs to each individual lane. Statistical costing is the main tool used in this study. It is not the most accurate method but is less costly than most other methods. Thus, it is often an indeal substitution for detailed engineering studies. Statistical methods have applicability when direct observation of the relationship between cost and output is difficult or impossible. To this end, regression analysis was proposed extensively in the study to examine the behaviour of different cost elements. With a good grasp of the relationship between terminal costs and terminal output (activities) one can apportion the related terminal costs to the lanes of interest. This study presents a normative model. To construct the model, the examination of a common motor carrier's operation has provided much insight regarding (1) the kinds of data that are generally available, (2) how the available data can be improved, and (3) how the constructed model relates to the motor carrier examined. To appreciate the subtleties inherent in this study, a general understanding of the industry as well as the daily operation of a motor carrier is required. To assess the profitability relating to different lanes, one requires some workable methods, and above all, workable data. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate