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Road Freight Transport

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  • In 2015, Irish registered goods vehicles made 10.3 million laden journeys and transported a total of 118.1 million tonnes of freight. The overall amount of road freight activity was 9.8 billion tonne-kilometres in 2015, which was virtually unchanged from 2014.

  • The largest commodity group transported by Irish registered goods vehicles in terms of tonnes carried in 2015 was quarry products, metal ores & peat and foodstuffs (22.9%).The greatest share of total freight activity in terms of tonne-kilometres related to the carriage of foodstuffs (27.7%). 

  • In 2015, there were 3,765 licensed hauliers in the State, a decrease of 2.0% on 2014.

X-axis labelOther companiesTransport companies
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
201551.167
Table 6.1 Road freight transport statistics summary, 2005 - 2015
YearTonne-kilometres    Tonnes carriedVehicle kilometresAverage number of vehiclesLaden journeys
 MillionThousandMillionNumberThousand
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
20159,844118,0591,30287,09410,279
      
Source: CSO
Table 6.2 Road freight transport activity classified by main type of work and main use of vehicle, 2015
 
Main type of work done by vehicle Tonne-km (million) Tonnes carried (thousand)
Own accountHire or rewardTotal Own accountHire or rewardTotal
        
Import/export work1552,2802,335 39711,46311,860
Carriage of livestock4175116 5997761,375
Carriage of other farm produce from farms119273392 1,7903,9635,753
Carriage of fertilisers, feeding stuffs etc. to farms106299404 1,8724,2546,126
Delivery of goods to road works or building sites451514965 16,46016,09632,556
Delivery of goods to retail outlets4331,0001,433 4,9778,83113,808
Delivery of goods to wholesalers2309251,154 2,1917,83810,029
Delivery of materials and fuels to factories1759541,129 2,71610,41313,129
Delivery of goods to households14851199 2,9326043,536
Other work5761,1401,716 8,38711,50119,888
        
Total2,3347,5109,844 42,31975,740118,059
        
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, 2015
 
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
        
Transport06,8636,863 066,97466,974 0448448 0662662
Manufacturing industry7230723 18,120018,120 80080 1330133
Mining & quarrying (incl. sand & gravel merchants)1990199 7,67507,675 10010 20020
Creameries & agricultural cooperative societies25025 3180318 202 303
Manufacture of food & feeding stuffs1610161 2,21102,211 27027 40040
Manufacture of drink & tobacco303 34034 101 101
Manufacture of glass, cement & clay products2070207 6,60206,602 14014 27027
Other manufacturing1280128 1,28001,280 26026 42042
Building & construction67067 1,52701,527 14014 27027
Distribution1,1445031,647 15,5417,17922,720 18341224 28161342
Agriculture & livestock dealing13249181 1,8914072,298 20424 36743
Local authorities67067 1,76901,769 707 12012
Other20096295 3,4701,1804,650 292958 443983
                
Total2,3347,5109,844 42,31975,740118,059 334523856 5337691,302
                 
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, 2005-2015
       
YearBusiness of ownerTotal tonnes carried
Transport companies Other companies
       
'000 tonnes carried% share (tonne-km) '000 tonnes carried% share (tonne-km)'000 tonnes carried
      
200581,04747.3 210,83652.7291,883
200690,72449.9 208,30650.1299,030
2007108,85557.0 190,45243.0299,307
200899,38558.5 146,40341.5245,788
200966,47860.2 81,85039.8148,328
201058,83961.7 67,02638.3125,865
201154,83966.5 55,42133.5110,260
201258,33769.3 49,74130.7108,078
201360,89869.5 47,93330.5108,831
201465,24071.3 47,26028.7112,499
201566,97456.7 51,08543.3118,059
       
Source: CSO     

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Table 6.5 Transport activity classified by national/international journeys and main use of vehicle, 2015
         
Type of journeyTonne-km (million) Tonnes carried (thousand)
Own accountHire or rewardTotal Own accountHire or rewardTotal
        
National journeys2,2195,4897,707 41,47769,714111,191
        
International journeys       
Goods loaded in Ireland65785851 4622,4782,941
Goods unloaded in Ireland34653687 3122,0212,333
Cross trade13534548 409671,007
Cabotage24951 28559587
Total international1152,0222,137 8426,0256,867
        
Total journeys2,3347,5109,844 42,31975,740118,059
         
Source: CSO

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Table 6.6 Road freight transport activity classified by region of origin and region of destination, 2015
 
Region of originRegion of destinationTotal
BorderMidlandWestDublinMid-EastMid-WestSouth-EastSouth-WestNorthernOther
Irelandcountries
Tonne-km (million)
            
Border28241551556323584122171911
Midland51123508246234454717498
West65412539023524828453658
Dublin223148204481237150231394531852,307
Mid-East10642431671923284651159801
Mid-West284563962823152126537712
South-East42482717210375450159311351,242
South-West154141195721502366202591,429
Northern Ireland2554186216214899
Other countries801227253381111970185591,187
            
Total9185457671,7108087491,3381,5591671,2839,844
            
 Tonnes carried (thousand)
            
Border7,0364124431,3186428931913626971611,379
Midland6562,91950284063824646627244616,644
West6534786,30344212540423814223928,900
Dublin1,8391,37298315,7665,2877201,6241,56032064330,115
Mid-East1,2516322413,9575,1212008392816716412,754
Mid-West1363964475081745,7166371,56617589,655
South-East1864311451,2021,19081610,4261,32513426616,120
South-West472232087933191,4021,94513,56146218,565
Northern Ireland460242711426562414011874
Other countries52648825329313210107221,4213,053
            
Total12,7906,9369,38125,47313,6149,61016,76518,9551,0403,494118,059
            
 Vehicle kilometres (million)
 
Border497102511354313131
Midland82381574661279
West1075418575504115
Dublin2717189636162432315284
Mid-East12753334512915123
Mid-West3471543991903104
South-East56423139652028155
South-West365318192210104200
Northern Ireland310311201012
Other Countries723204176150101
 
Total12780114279124103157201131051,302
            
Source: CSO

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Table 6.7 Road freight transport activity classified by country of origin and country of destination, 2015
 
Country of originCountry of destinationTotal
FranceGermanyIrelandItalyNetherlandsSpainUnited KingdomOther EUOther countries1
 Tonne-km (million)
           
France11252181104530141
Germany06610403970117
Ireland75577,70762492650557198,558
Italy12053400122083
Netherlands037201082086
Spain0029004100043
United Kingdom19113809103209320673
Other EU1082914449167128
Other countries1001000060016
           
Total127868,394936946882119279,844
           
 Tonnes carried (thousand)
           
France22252243136970192
Germany0134808040120121
Ireland9046111,1914048142,6444415114,132
Italy13032190081073
Netherlands268401201320118
Spain001800440026
United Kingdom37122,06271421,0862803,248
Other EU11142914343254134
Other countries100700040213
           
Total17494113,5249089353,91211821118,059
           
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, 2015
Group of goods (NST 2007)Tonne-km (million) Tonnes carried (thousand)
OwnHire orTotal OwnHire orTotal
accountreward accountreward
        
Products of agriculture, forestry & fishing2948751,1693,8429,44113,283
Coal & natural gas324477446305752
Quarry products, metal ores & peat39752992613,20413,84527,049
Foodstuffs4922,2302,7225,71416,93722,651
Textiles & leather3191123304513816
Wood, pulp & paper494314805613,8304,390
Coke & refined petroleum products3575008574,6146,07610,690
Chemicals & plastics463954415643,3713,935
Other non-metallic mineral products2464276737,6157,73515,350
Metal products (exc. machinery & equipment)421682094321,2921,725
Machinery & equipment511481996719091,579
Furniture & other manufactured goods3678114392546937
Secondary raw materials & waste1491412902,4231,8604,283
Other goods1111,4531,5641,5379,08110,618
 
Total2,3347,5109,844 42,31975,740118,059
        
Source: CSO

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Table 6.9 Number of licensed road hauliers by county, 2008 - 2015
       Number
County20082009201020112012201320142015
  
Carlow1241181109386828072
Cavan12812410810793898785
Clare155157132118100969185
Cork609605549516471461460445
Donegal184179178168158160154148
Dublin702680626581549522534537
Galway222218199195169168166170
Kerry178172157147136131132120
Kildare368353302275256248237234
Kilkenny164159145135123120123114
Laois148142130118108108109109
Leitrim3641383528232425
Limerick232231207183167155152144
Longford5654514742403937
Louth222211198174157153151144
Mayo171163146137118112112106
Meath340323286252218217218217
Monaghan193186172160153145142144
Offaly105103837773646368
Roscommon9999918780787979
Sligo8280787364615455
Tipperary272268232210190175181182
Waterford8887826165606363
Westmeath9489807166646564
Wexford292270243225213215214209
Wicklow189184160135116105110107
         
Total5,4535,2964,7834,3803,9993,8523,8403,765
         
Source: Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport

                            

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