Road freight activity: traffic falls sharply in 2008
Thursday 8th October 2009New data on road freight activity in Great Britain shows hgv activity falling sharply in 2008 as the economy slowed and entered recession.
Freight moved fell by 6 per cent, and freight lifted fell by 7 per cent. In practice, this brings back activity to 2005 levels.
Hauliers fared far worse in the downturn during 2008 than own account operators. Tonnes moved by hauliers have fallen by 11 per cent whereas own account activity has risen by 6 per cent. Typical own account sectors (food/building materials/petrochemicals) appear to have been insulated from falling activity levels which were concentrated in aggregates/iron and steel products, vehicles and white goods.
Empty running has risen to a 12 year high of 28.9 per cent. The rise has been most pronounced in the third party sector (up from 27 per cent to 29.3 per cent). However, lading factors broadly are unchanged, suggesting that operators have been able to reconfigure distribution activities to reflect lower volumes, and thus avoided compromising vehicle fill.
