Domestic road freight statistics: July 2021 to June 2022
Published 24 January 2023
© Crown copyright 2023
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About this release
This statistical release summarises the latest statistics on the domestic activity of Great Britain registered Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) operating in the UK, between July 2021 to June 2022. It covers the amount and type of goods carried by GB-registered HGVs, as well as their origin and destination and the distance they travelled. The information is obtained from continuous surveys of businesses that operate road goods vehicles.
This report also summarises the latest information about the road freight sector across different official data sources.
Feedback: We are providing our statistics releases in HTML format and we would like to hear your comments. If you have any feedback on our use of this format or on this release, please contact the road freight statistics team (see contact details).
Notes about the data: Due to rounding, totals may not appear to equal the sum of their parts.
Important note for users
Data collection for domestic road freight statistics moved from a paper to online survey midway through 2021. An investigation of the data has concluded that the paper data pre July to September 2021 (quarter 3) and online data, July to September 2021 (quarter 3) onwards, should not be compared. A number of factors related to the online data collection were considered, alongside other external factors which may have influenced recent data changes.
The methodology change occurred during a period of significant volatility in the road freight sector following the UK’s exit from the European Union, the COVID-19 pandemic and recruitment and retention challenges for HGV drivers. This conflation of trends means is it not possible to identify or account for the data changes caused solely by the methodology change.
A detailed explanation of the methodology change and the impact on the data can be found within the methodology note.
Definition
HGV: A lorry with a plated weight of 3.5 tonnes or more (the plated weight is the maximum permissible weight of a vehicle when loaded)
Headline figures
In the 12-month period ending June 2022, 1.65 billion tonnes of goods were lifted by GB-registered HGVs operating in the UK.
Infographic 1: Total amount of domestic goods lifted, goods moved, and vehicle kilometres travelled by GB-registered HGVs in the 12-month period ending June 2022 Table RFS0101
Good lifted remained steady between July to September 2021 (quarter 3) and January to March 2022 (quarter 1), with a slight decline during April to June 2022 (quarter 2).
Goods moved saw small fluctuations between July to September 2021 (quarter 3) and April to June 2022 (quarter 2), with a slight decrease from October to December 2021 (quarter 4) to January to March 2022 (quarter 1), before recovering in April to June 2022 (quarter 2).
Distance travelled decreased from July to September 2021 (quarter 3) to January to March 2022 (quarter 1), before recovering to the highest level in April to June 2022 (quarter 2).
Across all three measures, the variance between quarters for the 12-month period ending June 2022 was lower than the average quarterly variance from January to March 2004 (quarter 1) to April to June 2021 (quarter 2). This means that the amount of variation during this 12-month period is not unusual compared to historic fluctuations in road freight.
Definitions
Goods lifted: the weight of goods carried, measured in tonnes. This is a measure of the amount of goods transported around the UK by GB-registered HGVs.
Goods moved: the weight of goods carried, multiplied by the distance hauled, measured in tonne kilometres. This is a measure of the total activity of GB-registered HGVs, accounting for both the distance travelled by each vehicle and the weight of its load.
Commodities and dangerous goods lifted by GB-registered HGVs
The most common type of haul lifted by GB vehicles for the 12-month period ending June 2022 was groupage (21% of goods by weight), which is where vehicles carry a mixture of different commodities. The most common single category of commodity lifted was mining products (15%) and then food products (14%). The top 5 commodities lifted accounted for 70% of all goods lifted by GB-registered HGVs in the UK .
Definition
Groupage: In this report, groupage refers to mixed consignments where no single commodity makes up 75% or more of the consignment weight.
Infographic 2: Top 5 commodity types lifted by GB-registered HGVs in the 12-month period ending June 2022 Table RFS0104
Following the methodology change from paper to online data collection, the revised survey makes it easier for respondents to identify grouped consignments. This has led to groupage becoming the highest proportion of goods lifted for the 12-month period ending June 2022.
Note: the sum of individual proportion of goods lifted may not sum to total due to rounding
Between July to September 2021 (quarter 3) and April to June 2022 (quarter 2), 5% of all goods lifted within the UK were declared as dangerous goods, accounting for 78 million tonnes. Dangerous goods transported between July to September 2021 (quarter 3) and April to June 2022 (quarter 2) were predominantly flammable liquids (53 million tonnes, 68%) for example, alcoholic beverages, crude petroleum, fuel, and some chemicals.
Chart 1: Dangerous goods lifted by GB-registered HGVs by dangerous goods class in the 12-month period ending June 2022 Table RFS0118
Note: The nine dangerous goods classes are: flammable liquids, gases, corrosive substance, flammable solids, oxidisers and organic peroxides, toxic and infectious substance, radioactive materials, explosives, and miscellaneous substances.
Intermodal road freight activity
The 1.65 billion tonnes of goods lifted by GB-registered HGVs in the UK during the 12-month period ending June 2022, equated to 153 million HGV journeys, of which 5.7 million journeys (4% of journeys) involved at least one element of inter-modal activity. This equates to 119 million tonnes of freight (7% of tonnage) using road and at least one other different mode of transport.
Definitions
Inter-modal: There are multiple nuanced definitions of journeys involving freight movements across modes. Solely for the purpose of these statistics, the types of journeys and freight involved shall be referred to as “Inter-modal” freight
Journey: Goods transported from an origin to a destination by an HGV
Infographic 3: Proportion of inter-modal journeys involving GB-registered HGVs by mode of transport, for the 12-month period ending June 2022 Table RFS0132
Note: Percentage may not sum to 100% due to rounding
The three most common commodities transported on inter-modal trips during the 12-month period ending June 2022 were:
- Groupage 25.9 million tonnes (22% of inter-modal tonnage was carried in consignments of mixed goods)
- Mining, quarrying and metal ores 15.9 million tonnes (13% of inter-modal tonnage)
- Food products 13.0 million tonnes (11% of inter-modal tonnage)
The receptable or method used to transport goods differs for inter-modal goods compared to goods transported solely by HGVs, reflecting the requirements of transferring goods between modes of transport.
Chart 2: Goods lifted by GB-registered HGVs, by method of transportation, inter-modal journeys and all journeys, for the 12-month period ending June 2022
The most common method of transportation used to transfer goods between modes in inter-modal journeys is Large Freight Containers (26%). Whereas, across all journeys the most common method of transportation is Solid Bulk (28%)
Definitions
Solid Bulk: Commodity transported unpacked in large quantities. It refers to material in granular form (for example, coal).
Liquid bulk: Similar to solid bulk, however the material it refers to is of liquid form (for example, petroleum or crude oil).
Palletised goods: Commodity transported in a pallet, to support goods giving stability to commodity during transportation (for example, beverages).
Large freight container: Also known as shipping containers, commodity transported in a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage, and handling (for example, large reusable steel boxes (intermodal shipments), corrugated boxes).
Empty running
Infographic 4: Distance travelled by empty GB-registered HGVs in the UK, million kilometres, in the 12-month period ending June 2022 Table RFS0117
In the 12-month period ending June 2022, GB registered HGVs travelled 5,884 million kilometres whilst empty. This is 30% of total (loaded and empty) vehicle kilometres travelled during the same period (19,746 million kilometres).
Long term road freight trend up to April to June 2022 (quarter 2)
Chart 3: Trend in goods moved, goods lifted and vehicle kilometres by GB-registered HGVs, April to June 2005 (quarter 2) to April to June 2022 (quarter 2), indexed to April to June 2005 (quarter 2)
Chart 3 above shows goods lifted, goods moved, and distance travelled by GB registered HGVs between April to June 2005 (quarter 2) and April to June 2022 (quarter 2), indexed to April to June 2005 (quarter 2). The purpose of this chart is to demonstrate the change in data trends before and after the methodology change, when CSRGT transitioned from a paper to online survey.
An investigation of the data has concluded that the paper data (pre quarter 3 2021) and online data (quarter 3 2021 onwards) should not be compared.
More detail regarding the methodology change and impacts to the data can be found within the methodology note.
Overview of the road freight sector
Economic profile of the UK road freight sector
Infographic 5: GDP[footnote 1], number of HGVs[footnote 2] and diesel price[footnote 3] in 2021 compared to 2020
Road freight enterprises in 2020
Infographic 6: Latest estimates of the 2020 road freight sector[footnote 4]
Traffic and emissions in 2021
Infographic 7: Latest estimates from Road Traffic Statistics UK[footnote 5], Greenhouse Gas emission statistics[footnote 6]
HGV driver numbers
Infographic 8: HGV driver numbers by total and male vs female split[footnote 7]
There were reported shortages of HGV drivers in 2021 as a result of the impacts of COVID-19 on HGV driving tests, economic recovery from COVID-19, a fall in the number of EU drivers, and an ageing workforce with limited diversity. The UK government is taking steps to deal with these challenges, with more information on the government’s 33 measures available here.
HGV driver working time and pay
Infographic 9: Average weekly working hours and hourly median pay in 2021 for all employees and HGV drivers[footnote 8]
In the Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005 it is stated that HGV drivers must not exceed an average of 48 hours in a week’s work.
More information
Further information about the statistics and methodology in this report can be found in the road freight domestic and international statistics guidance
Other statistics related to freight and trade are available.
- International road freight statistics: 2021
- Road goods vehicles travelling to Europe: 2021
- Road Traffic statistics
- ONS UK trade statistical bulletins
- Port freight annual statistics: 2021
- Rail freight statistics factsheet: 2021
- Aviation statistics
Please contact road freight statistics if you have any questions about DfT road freight statistics.
Strengths and weaknesses of data
The figures in this release are mainly derived from the Continuing Survey of Road Goods Transport Great Britain (CSRGT GB) which provides information on the activity of GB-registered HGVs operating across the UK only. As such, the statistics exclude HGVs registered in Northern Ireland, foreign-registered HGVs and vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of 3.5 tonnes or less (Light Goods Vehicles and Vans). Also excluded from CSRGT GB is the activity of HGVs registered in Great Britain when operating outside of the UK. For information on GB registered HGVs making international trips please see the accompanying International Road Freight Statistics.
The CSRGT GB is a continuous survey which collects a range of information on freight movements from a stratified sample of HGVs. Figures are weighted to be representative of the HGV population however, like any statistical source, there are limitations. For example, these figures are based on a sample of HGVs rather than a census of all HGVs, which means that the figures in this publication are estimates associated with potential sampling errors.
Guidance on the methods used to compile these statistics and further information can be found in the Road Freight Statistics notes and definitions. The sample sizes of the statistics and sampling error estimates can be found within Table RFS0129, broken down by type and weight of vehicle. The sample size for the 12 months ending June 2022 was 13,104 vehicles.
Before 2021 July to September, data was collected from CSRGT was via paper questionnaires. At the start of 2021 July to September the survey forms transitioned from paper to online format. Here, the vehicle operator provides the same information as previously requested in the paper survey. The online survey has been made more intuitive compared with the paper survey based on extensive user testing. The structure has been streamlined and guidance provided for each relevant question to aid interpretation. This increases the likelihood of respondents providing information that more accurately reflects the vehicles true activity, therefore providing more accurate estimates of the overall HGV population.
This release and its contents partly rely on the use of administrative data from DVLA and DVSA. DfT have assessed the impact of this on the quality of these statistics, a report on which can be found in the Quality assurance of administrative data sources: Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency and Quality assurance of administrative data sources: Driver Vehicle Standards Agency.
Data comparability
An impact of the methodology change is that comparisons between paper data pre July to September 2021 (quarter 3) and online data, July to September 2021 (quarter 3) onwards should not be compared.
This has resulted in a lack of comparability between the two datasets and resultantly no long-term data trends are available for these statistics. More information regarding the methodology change can be found within the methodology note. Long term trends on the level of HGV traffic in Great Britain are available.
National Statistics
These statistics are designated as National Statistics. National Statistics are produced to high professional standards as set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics. The Code of Practice for Statistics plays an essential role in ensuring that statistics published by government inspire the public confidence through demonstrating trustworthiness and providing high-quality statistics.
The continued designation of the road freight statistics as National Statistics was confirmed in December 2016 following a compliance check by the Office for Statistics Regulation against the Code of Practice in July 2016.
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Contact details
Road freight statistics
Email roadfreight.stats@dft.gov.uk
Public enquiries 020 7944 3095
Media enquiries 020 7944 3021