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SCOTTISH TRANSPORT STATISTICS: No 21

Chapter 3 ROAD FREIGHT

1. Introduction

1.1 This chapter provides information about road freight lifted by UK-registered heavy goods vehicles (HGVs: over 3.5 tonnes gross weight), such as the amount of goods lifted in Scotland by road by origin and destination, the lengths of haul, the destinations within the UK and Europe, and the types of commodity lifted.

2. Main Points

2.1 In 2001, around 135 million tonnes of goods were lifted within Scotland and transported to destinations within Scotland. About 15.4 million tonnes of goods from Scotland were delivered to destinations elsewhere in the UK, and around 19.3 million tonnes were brought into Scotland from elsewhere in the UK. In comparison, the volume of international traffic is very small: under 1 million tonnes in 2001. (Table 3.1)

2.2 The total amount of goods lifted in Scotland in 2001 (just under 151 million tonnes) was 7.7 million tonnes less than that lifted in 2000, and only slightly higher than the amount lifted 10 years earlier (about 149 million tonnes). Over the last ten years, the total has usually been close to the average for the period of around 156 million tonnes per year; 1991 and 2001 were exceptions, with unusually low levels. (Table 3.1)

2.3 Most road freight journeys are under 50 kilometres in length: 37% of goods lifted by road in Scotland in 2001 were carried a distance of no more than 25 kilometres, and 21% travelled over 25 km but no more than 50 km. The average journey distance, which is calculated by dividing the total tonne-kilometres by the total tonnes lifted, was 91 km. (Table 3.2)

2.4 Goods moved on journeys originating in Scotland with a destination in Scotland amounted to 7,930 million tonne-kilometres in 2001, slightly less than in 2000 and 21% more than in 1991. The main increases occurred between 1993 and 1995, and between 1997 and 1998. The average journey distance for freight remaining in Scotland rose from 48 km in 1991 to 59 km in 2001. For all freight originating in Scotland, including goods going outwith the UK, the average journey distance increased from 80 km in 1991 to 95 km in 2001. (Table 3.3)

2.5 Of the 15.4 million tonnes of goods lifted by road leaving Scotland for the rest of UK, in 2001, 70% were destined for the three northernmost regions of England — North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, and North West. In 2001, of the 19.3 million tonnes of goods lifted by road from the rest of the UK into Scotland, 72% of goods came from these regions. (Table 3.4)

2.6 In 2001, "Minerals and building materials" was the largest single category of goods lifted in Scotland, which remained in Scotland, accounting for over 42 million tonnes out of the total of 135 million tonnes. (Table 3.5)

2.7 In 2001, UK registered road hauliers carried 495,000 tonnes of goods from Scotland to mainland Europe and 205,000 tonnes from mainland Europe into Scotland. Of goods leaving Scotland for Europe, carried by UK road hauliers, 40% went to France, 18% to Germany, 12% to Italy, and 9% to the Netherlands and Spain. For goods entering Scotland from Europe, carried by UK road hauliers, 28% came from France, 25% from the Netherlands, 15% from Italy and 12% came from Germany. (Table 3.6)

2.8 In 2001, around 8% of the total amount of goods leaving the UK originated in Scotland. However, Scotland provided 24% of petroleum products leaving the UK and 16% of Foodstuffs and animal fodder. (Table 3.7)

2.9 In the period from 1996 to 2000, around 41% of the annual average amount of freight lifted in Scotland originated in the former Strathclyde region, 12% in Grampian, and 12% originated in Lothian. Similarly around 42% of the annual average freight delivered in Scotland was destined for Strathclyde, 13% for Lothian and 12% for Grampian. Generally, the majority of the freight lifted in a region was delivered to a destination within that region. (Table 3.8)

3. Notes and Definitions

3.1 Origin and destination: these refer to the origins and destinations of the trips that were recorded in the surveys. These are not necessarily the ultimate origins and destinations of the goods (a trip on a vehicle which was in the sample may represent only one stage in the journey of a consignment: goods may have been trans-shipped on a number of occasions).

3.2 Entering Scotland and leaving Scotland: goods are classified on the basis of the origin and the destination of the trip: for example, a trip is counted as "entering Scotland" if the origin is outwith Scotland and the destination is within Scotland. It follows that trips which are made via Scotland, such as trips between Northern Ireland and England, are counted neither as "entering Scotland" nor as "leaving Scotland", because neither the origin nor the destination is within Scotland.

3.3 Remaining in Scotland: goods for which both the origin and the destination of the trip are within Scotland (they may, of course, leave Scotland on a later trip).

3.4 Length of haul: this information relates to individual vehicle trips, and not to the total distance that the goods may have travelled.

3.5 Goods lifted: these represent the total weight of goods loaded (in tonnes), and take no account of the distance for which the goods are carried. In cases where goods which had been carried on one HGV are later loaded onto another HGV, they will be counted as being lifted twice.

3.6 Tonne-kilometres: these provide a measure of the total amount of work done, and are calculated for each loaded journey by multiplying the weight of the load by the distance for which it is carried.

3.7 Groupage: This term is used in the analysis by commodity of the road freight entering or leaving the UK. When an HGV has delivered its goods to a destination in another country and does not have a pre-arranged load to transport on the return journey, rather than make the return journey empty, the space is often advertised. As a mixture of goods is usually transported on these occasions, which could not easily be split between the different categories of commodity, it is described as ‘groupage’.

4. Sources

4.1 Statistics of freight lifted and moved by road were provided by the Department for Transport, (DfT), which obtained them from two sample surveys.

4.2 UK HGV Road freight traffic within the UK

4.2.1 Information about domestic road freight traffic is obtained from DfT’s Continuing Survey of Roads Goods Transport. This collects details of the journeys that were made by a sample of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs: vehicles over 3.5 tonnes gross weight). HGVs account for an estimated 95% of road freight activity, the rest being carried by small commercial vehicles of up to 3.5 tonnes gross weight.

4.2.2 Each week, a number of HGVs are randomly selected from the computer records of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (and the corresponding Northern Ireland body). The sample is stratified by vehicle type, and (within vehicle type) spread evenly over a number of geographical areas, in order that the survey will produce reasonably accurate estimates for each category of vehicle, and for each of the geographical areas. A questionnaire is sent to each selected vehicle’s registered keeper, asking for information about the vehicle, and about every trip that it made in a sample week. The sample weeks are spread evenly across the year.

4.2.3 The origins and destinations are reported in the survey as (e.g.) the names of towns. DfT uses a computerised "gazetteer" to check the lengths of the routes between these places, and to determine the appropriate Region or Island Area for each Scottish origin and destination. DfT does not currently record origins and destinations in terms of the new Council areas. Following the completion of local government reorganisation across Britain, DfT intends to change the basis of its coding in 2003 to the NUTS-4 areas ("NUTS" is the "Nomenclature for Units for Territorial Statistics" : a classification of areas that is used to produce statistics for the European Union. There are 41 "NUTS-4" areas in Scotland.)

4.2.4 The results of the survey are "grossed-up" to produce estimates which represent the total road freight carried during the year as a whole, by all HGVs. This is done quarterly, in two stages. First, the sample vehicles’ results are "grossed up" to the whole HGV "population" using the ratio of the average number of HGVs in the stratum (from the DVLA and NI records) to the number for which survey results are available (the "average number of HGVs in the stratum" is the average of the number in the stratum at the start of the quarter and the number at the end of the quarter). Then the results are multiplied by 13, to raise the activity in the sampled week to an estimate for the whole of the quarter.

4.2.5 On average, the survey collects information for about 2,600 Scottish-based vehicles per year, or about 50 Scottish vehicles per week. A very general rule-of-thumb for this survey is that estimates which are based upon around 1,000 HGV-weeks have a 95% confidence interval of about +/- 10%. Therefore, the annual sample is too small for detailed analysis of the estimates for Scotland for a single year, and so the table which shows the estimated flows of freight to and from the former Regions of Scotland was produced by combining the results from several years’ surveys.

4.3 UK HGV International road freight traffic

4.3.1 The international road freight traffic statistics are derived from DfT’s Continuing International Road Haulage Survey which covers a sample of UK-registered heavy goods vehicles (HGVs: over 3.5 tonnes gross weight). Work by foreign-registered vehicles, and the transport of goods in unaccompanied trailers, is not within the scope of the survey. Other EU countries are responsible for monitoring the international movements of their own vehicles.

4.3.2 The survey covers trips using roll-on/roll-off ferries and the Channel Tunnel to serve origins and destinations located in continental Europe and in the Republic of Ireland, where the driver accompanies the vehicle throughout the journey. Trailers, when unaccompanied on the ferry crossing (or Channel Tunnel trip), are treated as domestic traffic when hauled to or from a UK port (or Channel Tunnel terminal). If the trailer is subsequently picked up by a foreign vehicle, that leg of the journey will be recorded in the statistics of the country in which the vehicle is registered. These statistics therefore exclude traffic which is carried in unaccompanied trailers, or in foreign-registered vehicles.

4.3.3 Each UK haulier with an International Operators Licence is asked to provide details of a sample of international trips by its HGVs: all those which leave the UK on a specified day or days (chosen in advance). Details of each trip are required, in those cases where a vehicle starts two (or more) international trips within the specified period. The sample covers about 4% of all trips.

4.3.4 The survey results are "grossed-up" in two stages, using information provided each quarter by the ferry and Channel Tunnel operators about the total number of UK-registered HGVs recorded on each route. First, the survey results for each ferry route and the Channel Tunnel are grossed-up separately, using each route’s ratio of the number of UK HGVs using that route (as reported by the operator) to the number in the survey. Then, the resulting totals are grossed-up further, using the quarter’s grand total of all UK-registered HGVs for all ferry routes and the Channel Tunnel, to allow for traffic on any routes which did not happen to have any vehicles in the sample in that quarter. It should be noted that the results do not include any estimates of the total amount of goods carried over the Irish land boundary, because there are no overall totals for the total number of HGVs which cross that boundary.

4.4 Light goods vehicle traffic

4.4.1 Information about road freight carried by light goods vehicles (up to 3.5 tonnes gross weight) is not available at present. DfT is launching two new surveys in 2002 to collect information about van activity which will complement the information currently available through its domestic road freight survey. The first will be a continuing survey of company-owned vans. The second will be a survey of private households' vans' activity, initially for one year with the possibility of repeat surveys in future years. These surveys will be designed primarily to produce results for Great Britain as a whole. The survey of company-owned vans will have a sample size of about 8,000 for GB as a whole. It is expected that, at first, it will provide only a limited range of results for Scotland; in due course, when data have been collected for a number of years, it may be possible to provide some more detailed results for Scotland, in the form of the averages for a number of years taken together. The sample size for the survey of private household van use will be about 2,500 for GB as a whole, so may be too small to provide sufficiently robust results for Scotland.

5. Further Information

5.1 Further information on GB road freight statistics can be found in the annual DfT publications "Transport of Goods by Road in Great Britain", "Transport Statistics Great Britain" and the quarterly bulletin "Road Goods Vehicles Travelling to Mainland Europe".

5.2 For further information on road freight statistics contact Mr John Garnsworthy, Department for Transport (Tel: 020 7944 3093).

Table 3.1 Goods lifted by UK HGVs by origin and destination of journey

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