1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192 
Freight volume rises by a quarter in 10 years
Page 20
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Fresh figures prove the volume of freight shifted by road transport has reached new levels. David Harris studies the trends.
The annual road transport statistics analysis, released last week, reveals that the total amount of goods moved by road in the UK has increased by nearly a quarter during the past decade.
The 29th Transport Statistics Great Britain report from the Department for Transport indicates that 157billion tonne-kilometres of freight travelled by road in 2002,95% of which was carried on vehicles above 3.5 tonnes.
But although the 10-year picture shows a 24% increase in freight carried, the increase has been neither continuous nor sustained. While the 149.8bn tonne-kilometres of freight moved on vehicles above 3.5 tonnes in 2002 is a quarter more than the 121.3bn carried in 1992, it is significantly less than the record 151.9bn tonne-kilometres carried in 1998.
This reflects the fact that the most substantial increases in freight carried were between 19921998. rather than the relatively stable figures of the last five years. Meanwhile, the latest figures show that the amount carried on light CVs has increased markedly over the last 10 years, rising by 17%. However, that is still less than 5% of the total tonnage moved.
Other notable increases in freight figures include an 80% rise in the amount of cargo handled at UK airports since 1992.
The amount of powered vehicles (in other words, not including unaccompanied trailers) that travelled to Europe on ferries or through the Channel Tunnel more than doubled during the same period.
The report confirmed earlier statistics indicating that the number of non-UK registered vehicles on these routes increased from 51% to 72%, showing the decline of UK-based Continental operators in the light of fierce competition from abroad and the current UK imbalance of trade.
Elsewhere, the report noted that more than half of articulated goods traffic was on motorways. In all, transport consumed 55m tonnes of oil in 2002, compared with 49in tonnes in 1992. This is 35% of total UK energy use. •