Road haulage is essential for keeping the UK economy and our supply chains moving. It includes the transportation, loading, tracking and delivery of goods.
Everything we eat, drink, wear and consume depends on road haulage services and the companies and drivers that operate them.
Goods can range from food supplies to machinery to vehicles. Helping to move such goods are Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs), with more than 406,000 HGVs in Great Britain.
A Heavy Goods Vehicle is a lorry with a plated weight of 3.5 tonnes or more. Everything we eat, drink, wear and consume depends on road haulage services and the companies and drivers that operate them.
In the UK, 98% of all food and agricultural products are transported by road freight.
The productivity and competitiveness of the UK economy is dependent upon having an efficient road haulage sector and road infrastructure that works for all users.
Road transport is a highly competitive and low-margin business. It is a highly skilled, service-driven industry, responding to fluctuating customer demand. It operates under a tightly regulated operator licensing regime to promote road safety.
Key statistics
- 89% of all freight in the UK is moved by road.
- 1.86 million people work in transport and storage.
- The industry contributes £13.5 billion to the UK economy each year.
- The transport and logistics industry accounts for 5.6% of UK’s GDP.
- Three-quarters of local authorities host at least 1,000 logistics jobs.
- There are 58,262 road freight enterprises in UK.
- The number of HGVs is around 437,000 in Great Britain.
- The number of HGV Drivers in the UK is around 300,000.