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Road Freight Transport

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  • In 2014, Irish registered goods vehicles made 10.1 million laden journeys and transported a total of 112.5 million tonnes of freight. Overall road freight activity was 9.8 billion tonne-kilometres.

  • The main commodities transported by Irish registered goods vehicles in terms of tonnes carried in 2014 were quarry products, metal ores & peat and foodstuffs.  The greatest share (26.4%) of total freight activity in terms of tonne-kilometres related to the carriage of foodstuffs

  • In 2014, there were 3,840 licensed hauliers in the State, a decrease of 0.3% on 2013.

X-axis labelOther companiesTransport companies
2005219.584.4
2006208.390.7
2007190.5108.9
2008146.499.4
200981.966.5
20106758.8
201155.454.8
201249.758.3
201347.960.9
201447.365.2
Table 6.1 Road freight transport statistics summary, 1999 - 2014
YearTonne-kilometres    Tonnes carriedVehicle kilometresAverage number of vehiclesLaden journeys
 MillionThousandMillionNumberThousand
199910,228162,3551,41656,09014,014
200012,263191,2641,59564,24815,605
200112,291199,8291,58570,82515,770
200214,282224,9071,85171,00517,621
200315,679251,7911,96671,45919,709
200417,011273,5572,13973,07520,767
200517,819291,8832,31279,91622,425
200617,322299,0302,24287,13523,248
200718,707299,3072,33297,75223,646
200817,289245,7882,20797,64020,085
200912,071148,3281,58587,61612,659
201010,924125,8651,45784,02511,177
20119,941110,2601,33881,17810,168
20129,895108,0781,31679,97110,057
20139,138108,8311,26176,9679,925
20149,772112,4991,30783,65010,094
      
Source: CSO
Table 6.2 Road freight transport activity classified by main type of work and main use of vehicle, 2014
 
Main type of work done by vehicle Tonne-km (million) Tonnes carried (thousand)
Own accountHire or rewardTotal Own accountHire or rewardTotal
        
Import/export work1542,2962,350 42111,38711,808
Carriage of livestock4177118 6606421,302
Carriage of other farm produce from farms74243317 1,2423,4964,738
Carriage of fertilisers, feeding stuffs etc. to farms132328461 2,1064,4246,530
Delivery of goods to road works or building sites454520975 15,38315,73831,121
Delivery of goods to retail outlets3991,1601,558 4,60210,19914,801
Delivery of goods to wholesalers2518121,063 2,1866,6048,789
Delivery of materials and fuels to factories127859986 1,5519,39710,949
Delivery of goods to households17743220 3,2477694,016
Other work4471,2781,725 6,65311,79318,445
        
Total2,1567,6169,772 38,05274,448112,499
        
1 Includes work done to and from ports as well as roll-on/roll-off and cross-border work
Source: CSO

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Table 6.3 Road freight transport activity classified by business of owner and main use of vehicle, 2014
 
Business of owner of vehicleTonne-km (million) Tonnes carried (thousand) Loaded vehicle kilometres (million) Total vehicle kilometres (million)
Own accountHire or rewardTotal Own accountHire or rewardTotal Own accountHire or rewardTotal Own accountHire or rewardTotal
        
Transport06,9696,969 065,24065,240 0456456 0675675
Manufacturing industry6950695 15,105015,105 81081 1370137
Mining & quarrying (incl. sand & gravel merchants)1620162 6,26506,265 808 17017
Creameries & agricultural cooperative societies14014 2350235 101 202
Manufacture of food & feeding stuffs1980198 2,38402,384 29029 44044
Manufacture of drink & tobacco15015 1280128 202 303
Manufacture of glass, cement & clay products1910191 4,70204,702 12012 23023
Other manufacturing1150115 1,39101,391 29029 48048
Building & construction89089 3,10503,105 20020 35035
Distribution9395021,441 12,3237,23819,561 17540215 25662318
Agriculture & livestock dealing11828146 1,8933702,263 19322 35539
Local authorities67067 1,78701,787 707 13013
Other247117363 3,8391,5995,438 372764 533790
                
Total2,1567,6169,772 38,05274,448112,499 341526866 5287781,307
                
Source: CSO

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Table 6.4 Quantity of goods carried ('000 tonnes) and share of road freight activity (tonne-km) by business of owner, 2004-2014
       
YearBusiness of ownerTotal tonnes carried
Transport companies Other companies
       
'000 tonnes carried% share (tonne-km) '000 tonnes carried% share (tonne-km)'000 tonnes carried
      
200490,01451.1 183,54348.9273,557
200581,04747.3 210,83652.7291,883
200690,72449.9208,30650.1299,030
2007108,85557.0 190,45243.0299,307
200899,38558.5146,40341.5245,788
200966,47860.281,85039.8148,328
201058,83961.767,02638.3125,865
201154,83966.555,42133.5110,260
201258,33769.349,74130.7108,078
201360,89869.5 47,93330.5108,831
201465,24071.3 47,26028.7112,499
       
Source: CSO     

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Table 6.5 Transport activity classified by national/international journeys and main use of vehicle, 2014
        
Type of journeyTonne-km (million) Tonnes carried (thousand)
Own accountHire or rewardTotal Own accountHire or rewardTotal
        
National journeys2,0485,6267,67437,23268,982106,214
 
International journeys
Goods loaded in Ireland658008654572,0932,550
Goods unloaded in Ireland307047342641,6961,961
Cross trade1042843922767789
Cabotage2586077909985
Total international1071,9902,098 8205,4656,285
 
Total journeys2,1567,6169,772 38,05274,448112,499
        
Source: CSO

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Table 6.6 Road freight transport activity classified by region of origin and region of destination, 2014
 
Region of originRegion of destinationTotal
BorderMidlandWestDublinMid-EastMid-WestSouth-EastSouth-WestNorthernOther
Irelandcountries
Tonne-km (million)
            
Border31533701674222683916153924
Midland59149456133306548329521
West522323810045213823130570
Dublin256160240456232181227431212352,438
Mid-East623441155214396639935694
Mid-West452953943621170144758746
South-East53504217410069428251191531,339
South-West173439178331172235671961,306
Northern Ireland112107001315556
Other countries115231828439221127474821,177
            
Total9855387961,6767737131,3101,617881,2769,772
            
 Tonnes carried (thousand)
            
Border7,2483075631,3205099431512721152511,219
Midland5463,16943458542237767722330816,543
West5742325,3885012392031841112577,491
Dublin1,9611,4391,09213,7075,6049211,5251,72411384428,929
Mid-East1,0774792193,3695,991222748174499412,423
Mid-West1712594204892266,0987431,701218210,210
South-East2694871971,1639827149,3642,1296126815,635
South-West561662067121461,0081,64612,261211116,315
Northern Ireland15816385720414527376
Other countries498596961280312068971,7093,359
            
Total12,5586,6128,62722,51514,2019,66815,45018,5435473,777112,499
            
 Vehicle kilometres (million)
 
Border5379269564212132
Midland72261564750376
West964819584502105
Dublin28172010135182834218301
Mid-East9663435512513117
Mid-West45818538101705111
South-East5642813106423110165
South-West356305172410007198
Northern Ireland20021010007
Other Countries92123438504197
 
Total1297610729511810916419971021,307
            
Source: CSO

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Table 6.7 Road freight transport activity classified by country of origin and country of destination, 2014
 
Country of originCountry of destinationTotal
FranceGermanyIrelandItalyNetherlandsSpainUnited KingdomOther EUOther countries1
 Tonne-km (million)
           
France06838012930132
Germany0449000374094
Ireland121517,67477463748043118,539
Italy60684003000108
Netherlands046611080081
Spain002700170035
United Kingdom279375496186291645
Other EU33600404084121
Other countries102500063017
           
Total157798,40894604582490169,772
           
 Tonnes carried (thousand)
           
France111669025240145
Germany016410004060102
Ireland11541106,2144650212,230389108,764
Italy7035900170067
Netherlands07741301710104
Spain001700280027
United Kingdom42171,68131771,3593113,160
Other EU464403047113117
Other countries104400032014
           
Total168103108,1756773333,7749313112,499
           
1 Includes any country which is not a member state of the EU
Source: CSO

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Table 6.8 Road freight transport activity classified by group of goods and main use of vehicle, 2014
Group of goods (NST 2007)Tonne-km (million) Tonnes carried (thousand)
OwnHire orTotal OwnHire orTotal
accountreward accountreward
        
Products of agriculture, forestry & fishing2938111,1043,5418,24311,784
Coal & natural gas123445183364547
Quarry products, metal ores & peat31954286211,62514,18525,810
Foodstuffs4032,1742,5774,91616,34521,261
Textiles & leather2287109203592795
Wood, pulp & paper594925516743,8984,572
Coke & refined petroleum products3385068443,9335,6819,614
Chemicals & plastics373744114153,6484,064
Other non-metallic mineral products2543576116,7206,37413,094
Metal products (exc. machinery & equipment)332432765051,6342,139
Machinery & equipment471682156819361,617
Furniture & other manufactured goods44951394817601,241
Secondary raw materials & waste1441442882,2442,1364,380
Other goods1511,5891,7401,9309,65111,581
 
Total2,1567,6169,772 38,05274,448112,499
        
Source: CSO

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Table 6.9 Number of licensed road hauliers by county, 2007 - 2014
       Number
County20072008200920102011201220132014
   
Carlow11812411811093868280
Cavan129128124108107938987
Clare1561551571321181009691
Cork580609605549516471461460
Donegal174184179178168158160154
Dublin660702680626581549522534
Galway216222218199195169168166
Kerry161178172157147136131132
Kildare350368353302275256248237
Kilkenny159164159145135123120123
Laois147148142130118108108109
Leitrim3036413835282324
Limerick211232231207183167155152
Longford5056545147424039
Louth213222211198174157153151
Mayo156171163146137118112112
Meath328340323286252218217218
Monaghan174193186172160153145142
Offaly981051038377736463
Roscommon9299999187807879
Sligo8482807873646154
Tipperary254272268232210190175181
Waterford8488878261656063
Westmeath8494898071666465
Wexford287292270243225213215214
Wicklow178189184160135116105110
         
Total5,1735,4535,2964,7834,3803,9993,8523,840
         
Source: Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport

                            

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