Freight goes further but tonnage down
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;DODS vehicles are carrying a gradually decreasing amount of 3nnage, but carrying it a longer distance, say new figures from le Department of Transport.
The statistics cover all the 1.6 million goods vehicles in Great ritain.
Work performed by these ehicles totalled 98 thousand illion tonne-kilometres in 977, an increase of 2.4 thouand million over 1976. But ctual tonnes carried dereased over the same period y 94 million tonnes to 1,422 iillion tonnes.
Correspondingly, the length f the average journey went p from 63.1 kilometres to 68.9 ilometres, which means that le average load is getting -nailer but is travelling irther.
These figures can be split up to hire and reward haulage 'id own account transport. Own account tonnage in )77 decreased by a greater mount than the hire and ?ward figure. The own :count average journey length rose slightly from 49.5 kilometres to 50.9 kilometres while the hire and reward journey went up from 75.3 kilometres to 84.2 kilometres.
These figures follow the general trend exhibited over the past few years.
The change in the split between own account and hire and reward haulage is noticeable. In 1967 own account lorries carried 20 per cent more tonnage than hire and reward.
In 1972 the two figures were roughly equal, but in 1977 the position had reversed, with hire and reward carrying nearly 20 per cent more than own account.
With the increased distance factor, the work performed by the hire and reward haulier is steadily increasing at the ex pense of the own account operator.
Already the hire and reward hauliers worked 95 per cent more tonne-kilometres than the own account sector.
Copies of the complete statistics called Transport of Goods by Road in Britain 1977 are available, cost 53p plus 15p postage, from STB Division, Room SI9/17, Department of Transport, 2 Marsham Street, London SWI P 3EB.