Archive:Road freight vehicle statistics - lorries, road tractors and trailers

Data from August 2014. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.

This article presents statistics on vehicles for transport of freight in the European Union (EU): lorries, road tractors, semi-trailers and trailers. It describes the development in the number of such vehicles and analyses the trends in the registration of new vehicles. It also analyses the load capacity of these vehicles, which is crucial for the capacity of the transport sector in the EU to move freight.

Amongst the Member States, the highest numbers of lorries were found in France and Spain, with the strongest growth in France. For road tractors, the highest number was found in Poland, followed by France, Germany and Spain. Road tractors are motor vehicles designed to haul semi-trailers and similar trailers without motor. Thus, the largest numbers of semi-trailers are found in the same countries except Spain.

The registrations of new lorries and road tractors fell sharply in 2009, but recovered through 2010, 2011 and 2012. These fluctuations were most pronounced in Latvia and the other Baltic Member States, as well as in some other eastern Member States.

Table 1: Number of lorries, road tractors, semi-trailers and trailers, 2012
Source: Eurostat (online data code: (road_eqs_lrstn)

Figure 1: Lorries by age, EU-28, 2012 (¹), (²), (³), (⁴), (⁵), (⁶), (⁷)
Source: Eurostat (online data code: (road_eqs_lorroa)

Figure 2: Number of lorries by load capacity, 2012 (¹)
Source: Eurostat (online data code: (road_eqs_lornum)

Table 2: Load capacity of lorries, by load capacity class, 2012 (1000 tonnes)
Source: Eurostat (online data code: (road_eqs_lorton)

Table 3: Number of lorries, by load capacity and type of motor energy, 2012
Source: Eurostat (online data code: (road_eqs_lormot)

Figure 3: New lorries registered during the year (¹)
Source: Eurostat (online data code: (road_eqr_lorrin)

Figure 4: New road tractors registered during the year (¹)
Source: Eurostat (online data code: (road_eqr_lrstn)

Main statistical findings

High number of lorries in France and Spain; France recorded the most new lorries

Amongst the EU Member States, the highest number of lorries was found in France (5.65 million lorries; 2012 data) and Spain (5.0 million, 2012 data), followed by Italy (4.0 million, 2012 data), the United Kingdom (3.6 million; Great Britain only, 2011 data) and Poland (2.9 million, 2012 data) (see Table 1).

Analyzing the data behind Figure 1, the highest number of 2 years old or newer lorries was found in France, with 864 873 lorries. There were high numbers of such new lorries also in Germany (519 623), the United Kingdom (514 355, 2011 data) and Spain (359 283). However, the age structure of the national stocks of lorries differs greatly between Member States. In many eastern and southern Member States the main share of the lorries were 10 years old or older. The highest shares of old lorries in the total were found in Malta, representing 80 % of all registered lorries in the country. Thereafter followed Cyprus (65 %), Slovakia (2009 data), Portugal and Poland (64 % each). In contrast, Ireland had the lowest share of old lorries, making up only 17 % of the registered lorries; correspondingly the share of ’new’ lorries, i.e. lorries that were two years old or younger, was 13 %. Amongst the EU Member States, Denmark (29 %, 2008 data), Austria and Sweden (both 25 %, 2009 data for Sweden), Belgium and Germany (both 20 %, 2011 data for Belgium) and France 15 %) had higher shares of new lorries than Ireland.

Road tractors are motor vehicles designed to haul semi-trailers or other not motorized vehicles. In 2012, the largest stock of road tractors amongst EU Member States was found in Poland (257 226 road tractors) far ahead of France (198 875, 2009 data) which accounted for the largest number of semi-trailers (313 000, 2009 data) . Correspondingly, Poland also had the third highest number of semi-trailers (277 308) amongst the Member States. Other countries with high numbers of road tractors and semi-trailers are Germany (182 829 road tractors, 287 654 semi-trailers), and Spain (161 037 road tractors and 251 766 semi-trailers).

Spain have the most small lorries

In 2012, Spain had the highest number amongst the Member States of small lorries with a load capacity of less than one tonne amongst all Member States. These 3.8 million small lorries made up 76 % of the lorries in Spain. This percentage achieved 93 % in Ireland. Among the other Member States, these smallest lorries made up a similarly large share of the registered lorries in Sweden (73 %). Small lorries also made up between 60 % and 70 % of the total number of lorries in France, Austria, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.

As can be seen from Figure 2, the two categories covering lorries with capacity of up to one tonne and of between one and one and a half tonnes respectively, made up between 75 % and 90 % of the total number of lorries in more than two third of the countries available. Notable exceptions were Portugal and Malta, where the combination of the two capacity classes from 1.5 up to 3 tonnes and from 3 up to 5 tonnes made up 80 % and 82 % of the registered lorries respectively. The highest shares of the number of lorries carrying more than 10 tonnes in total load capacity are recorded in Romania, Finland and Latvia (each more than 10 %). But in a little less than half of all Member States available these shares are below 5 %. However, in this context, it should be reminded that the methodologies for the voluntary Common Questionnaire for Inland Transport are not harmonized; differences may to a certain extent reflect national vehicle registration systems and practices. See the section below on Data sources and availability for more details.

Table 2 shows that the actual load capacity of registered lorries are relatively unevenly distributed over the different size classes (in terms of load capacity) in the Member States for which data are available. In general, the distribution of load capacity of lorries is relatively heterogeneous across small (up to 1.5 tonnes), medium sized (from 1.5 up to 10 tonnes) and large lorries (10 tonnes or more). However, in each Member State there is a dominating lorry category. The smallest lorries The smallest lorries provides around half of the total lorry load capacity in Spain (52 %), Cyprus (52 %) and the Netherlands (48 %). In contrast, the largest lorries provided half or more of the total lorry load capacity in Finland (57 %), Sweden (52 %), Luxembourg (49 %) and the Czech Republic (47 %), while medium sized lorry capacity is highest in Malta (71 %), Lithuania (47 %) and Poland (41 %). However, it should be noted that these data are only available for 15 Member States.

Table 3 shows that lorries with a load capacity of 1.5 tonnes or more are almost exclusively fuelled by diesel; with the exception of Malta (2.1 %, 2009 data) and Latvia (1.2 %), less than 1 % of these lorries are powered by petrol. Germany and Sweden are the only countries where more lorries of 1.5 tonnes and more are running with alternative fuel engines than petrol engines. Compared to the total number of lorries Luxembourg (2.0 %) and Sweden (1.5 %) show the highest shares of alternative fuel engine lorries on all lorries.

Also for the smaller lorries with a load capacity of less than 1.5 tonnes is diesel the most common fuel. However, in most Member States the share of small lorries powered by petrol lies between 3 % and 9 %. The main exceptions are Malta and Estonia, where 79 % and 14 % respectively of these smaller lorries are powered by petrol. Alternative fuels play only a marginal role also for the smaller lorries; their share is below 1 % for most Member States for which data are available. However, in Italy 7.0 % of small lorries were powered by alternative fuels, including hybrid motor concepts. Poland, Sweden and Austria also stand out with alternative fuel shares of 3.0 %, 2.7 % and 1.7 % respectively.

Significant decrease in registrations of new road tractors in large Member States in 2012

In all Member States for which data are available, the registration of new lorries fell sharply from 2008 to 2009, for almost all countries by 20% or more. In Latvia, the Czech Republic and Estonia, the new registrations fell by around two thirds. However, in most countries the registrations of new lorries picked up again already in 2010 and continued to grow through 2011 but showed a decrease in 2012. Out of 19 countries with available data, 12 recorded a fall, which was especially remarkable in Portugal (-55 %), Cyprus (-46 %), Italy (-34 %), Spain (-26 %) and Poland (-21 %). Significant increase were only recorded in Latvia (26 %), Estonia (11 %) and Bulgaria (9 %).

There were also falls in the registrations of new road tractors (motorized vehicles for hauling semi-trailers and similar) in all Member States from 2008 to 2009. The registrations of road tractors fell strongly, by between 30 % Sweden and 83 % in Estonia. Only Cyprus (-1 %) and Malta (-10 %) showed a relatively small decreases. Interestingly, the road tractor registrations in Cyprus fell strongly in the three following years, while they returned to strong growth in most other Member States until 2011. From 2009 to 2011, the strongest growth by far was registered in Latvia where the registrations of new road tractors were five and a half times higher in 2011 than in 2009. In Estonia the registrations more than quadrupled and in Slovenia and Lithuania more than tripled over the same time period. But in 2012 the number of registrations decreased in all available Member States except Bulgaria and Croatia.

Data sources and availability

Data source
The Eurostat/ITF/UNECE Common Questionnaire on Inland Transport.

Definitions
All definitions used are taken from the Eurostat/UNECE/ITF Illustrated Glossary for Transport Statistics, currently in its 4th edition. This glossary can be found on Eurostat’s website.

Road freight vehicle

Road vehicle designed, exclusively or primarily, to carry goods. Included are:

- Light goods road vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of not more than 3 500 kg, designed exclusively or primarily, to carry goods, e.g. vans and pick-ups
- Heavy goods road vehicles with a gross vehicle weight above 3 500 kg, designed, exclusively or primarily, to carry goods
- Road tractors
- Agricultural tractors permitted to use roads open to public traffic.

Goods road motor vehicle

Any single road motor vehicle designed to carry goods (e.g. a lorry), or any coupled combination of road vehicles designed to carry goods, (i.e. lorry with trailer(s), or road tractor with semi-trailer and with or without trailer).

Lorry / truck

Rigid road motor vehicle designed, exclusively or primarily, to carry goods.

Road tractor

Road motor vehicle designed, exclusively or primarily, to haul other road vehicles which are not power-driven (mainly semi-trailers). (Agricultural tractors are excluded.)

Trailer

Goods road vehicle designed to be hauled by a road motor vehicle (excludes agricultural trailers and caravans.)

Semi-trailer

Goods road vehicle with no front axle designed in such way that part of the vehicle and a substantial part of its loaded weight rests on a road tractor.

Road train

Goods road motor vehicle coupled to a trailer. Articulated vehicle (road tractor coupled to a semi-trailer) with a further trailer attached is included.

Load capacity

Maximum weight of goods declared permissible by the competent authority of the country of registration of the vehicle.

Gross vehicle weight (Legally permissible maximum weight)

Total of the weight of the vehicle (or combination of vehicles) including its load when stationary and ready for the road declared permissible by the competent authority of the country of registration. This includes the weight of the driver and the maximum number of persons permitted to be carried.

Unladen vehicle weight

Weight of vehicle (or combination of vehicles) excluding its load when stationary and ready for the road. The unladen weight may include driver and fuel, dependent on national practice.

Cylinder capacity

The cylinder capacity of the engine as certified by the competent authority of the country of registration.

Motor energy

The principal type of motor energy used by the vehicle as certified by the competent authority of the country of registration. For hybrid or dual-fuelled vehicles adapted for using more than one type of motor energy (e.g. LPG and petrol, or electricity and diesel, etc.), the principal type of motor energy should be, where possible, an alternative fuel.

Alternative fuel

A type of motor energy other than the conventional fuels petrol and diesel. Alternative fuels include electricity, LPG, natural gas (NGL or CNG), alcohols, mixtures of alcohols with other fuels, hydrogen, biofuels (such as biodiesel), etc. (This list is not exhaustive.) Alternative fuels do not include unleaded petrol, reformulated petrol or city (low-sulphur) diesel.

Context

The Common Questionnaire on Inland Transport is a joint project of Eurostat, the International Transport Forum (ITF) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The data are provided on a voluntary basis by a large number of countries, both within and outside the European Union. Data is collected from reliable sources, but data collection methodologies are not harmonised at EU level. Comparability across countries is restricted as the classifications used in the national vehicle registers are not harmonised. Vehicles registers may exclude taxis, pick-up and vans, and may also exclude very old vehicles. This article covers data provided by the EU Member States, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries and EU enlargement countries.

Further Eurostat information

Data visualisation

Regional Statistics Illustrated - select statistical domain 'Transport' (top right)

Publications

Energy, transport and environment indicators - Pocketbook - 2013 edition
Europe in figures - Eurostat yearbook 2013, chapter 10: Transport
Decline in European road freight transport in 2011 reflecting the economic climate - Statistics in focus 38/2012
Slow recovery in road freight transport in 2010 - Statistics in focus 15/2012
Six years of road freight growth lost to the crisis - Statistics in focus 12/2011

Main tables

Transport statistics, see:

Road transport (t_road)

Database

Transport statistics, see:

Road transport (road)

Road transport equipment - Stock of vehicles (road_eqs)

Road transport equipment - New registration of vehicles (road_eqr)

Other information

White paper COM(2011) 144 final Roadmap to a single European transport area – towards a competitive and resource efficient transport system
Handbook on statistics on road traffic - Methodology and experience (UNECE, 2007)

External links

Notes

[[Category:<Infrastructure and means>|Road freight vehicle statistics - lorries, road tractors and trailers]] [[Category:<Road>|Road freight vehicle statistics - lorries, road tractors and trailers]] [[Category:<Statistical_article>|Road freight vehicle statistics - lorries, road tractors and trailers]] [[Category:<Transport>|Road freight vehicle statistics - lorries, road tractors and trailers]]