Foreign truck use rises in the UK at 24% a year
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• by Melanie Hammond
The number of foreign-registered CVs operating in the UK is rising at 24% a year, according to the latest figures from the Department of Transport— an increase of more than 80% since 1996.
In the same period German and Belgian hauliers have increased their activity in the UK by 140% and 135% respectively, with Fast European operators growing by 41% in 1999 alone. Unaccompanied trailers are slowly losing market share, which suggests foreign hauliers are continuing the UK leg of the journey.
Freight Transport Association economist Simon Chapman says: "As the number of foreign operators corning across the Channel grows, and the Euro falls to new lows against Sterling, transport users find themselves being offered prices for haulage that they can't turn down."
The figures coincide with another DOT report, Transport of Goods by Road, 1999, which shows British trucks are covering more miles but carrying less freight.
According to the report, freight moved by HGVs fell by 3.9% to 1,567 million tonnes last year. Rut at the same time the average length of haul increased from 93km to 95km. Between 1980 and 1999 the tonne/kilometres total rose by 66%, equivalent to an annual rate of 2.7%.
The UK's Gross Domestic Product rose by an annual average of 2.4% in the same period.
Empty running by all vehicles fell from 27.8% in 1998 to 27.2% in 1999; a trend which the FTA attributes to more efficient vehicle utilisation.