As seen above, although there are still few research works on GPS-based data collection for urban goods movement and freight distribution identification and characterization, we observe four main categories of devices. Those categories are based on two elements: the need (or not) to install the device (fixed or mobile) and the way the data files are transferred (online and offline data transmission). Note than in all cases, real-time data transmission is not required for route characterization, so online data transmission is made in regular periods (each hour,day, or once the file reaches a determined size or the vehicle stops for more than a given amount of time) and not each time data is recorded.