Freight as an employer and vital business sector
- The road freight industry is contracting and consolidating. In 1993/4 125,000 goods vehicle operator licences were in issue; by 2005/6 this had reduced to 101,857
The average size of vehicle fl eet has gone up from 3.2 to 3.7 between 1994 and 2005
- Logistics operators are among the UK’s leading businesses. Fourteen per cent of Britain’s most successful companies (listed in the FTSE 250) are directly involved in transport and logistics
- The largest logistics operator in the UK is Deutsche Post Group (comprising Exel and DHL) which employs around half a million people worldwide and generated £42 million in revenue in 2006
- Logistics is the UK’s fi fth biggest industry, employing 2.27 million people or eight per cent of all employment. Railways directly employ 42,000 people in the UK, ports/shipping directly employs 24,000, 521,000 are employed as lgv and van drivers and 71,000 are employed in the management and administration of transport operations. A further 649,000 are involved in other transport related roles (April–June 2007 Labour Force Survey, ONS)
- There are 180,000 aviation jobs in the UK, one per cent of total UK jobs. A similar number are employed in fi rms which supply goods and services to the industry (eg aircraft fuel and equipment, computer systems of airlines etc)
- The road freight industry is dominated by a large number of small businesses. Three quarters of operators have a fl eet size of two vehicles or less. The largest 10 per cent of fl eets operate half of the lgv fl eet
- Road freight transport functions are increasingly being outsourced to haulage specialists. In 1984 public haulage accounted for 64 per cent of tonne kilometres; 20 years later its market share had grown to 73 per cent of total tonne kilometres
- It is estimated that the UK market value for freight and distribution was £75.5 billion in 2006
The UK is the second largest market for new commercial vehicles in Europe (Germany is the largest). In the 12 months to October 2007 41,392 lgvs and 286,680 sgvs were registered
< back to contents
< back to The UK economy's reliance on road freight
forward to Road freight cost drivers >
