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Transport Omnibus 2018

Road Freight Transport

Road freight transport

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In 2018, Irish registered goods vehicles made 13.4 million laden journeys and transported a total of 150.0 million tonnes of freight. The overall amount of road freight activity was 11.5 billion tonne-kilometres in 2018, a decrease of 1.9% compared with 2017.

The largest commodity group transported by Irish registered goods vehicles in terms of tonnes carried in 2018 was quarry products, metal ores & peat (28.3%). The greatest share of total freight activity in terms of tonne-kilometres related to the carriage of foodstuffs (24.1%).

In 2018, there were 3,873 licensed hauliers in the State, a marginal increase of 0.6% compared with 2017.

X-axis label	Other companies	Transport companies
2009	81.9	66.5
2010	67.0	58.8
2011	55.4	54.8
2012	49.7	58.3
2013	47.9	60.9
2014	47.3	65.2
2015	51.1	67.0
2016	54.7	87.0
2017	62.7	84.6
2018	67.4	82.7

Road freight transport

Table 6.1 Road freight transport statistics summary, 2008 - 2018
Year	Tonne-kilometres	Tonnes carried	Vehicle kilometres	Average number of vehicles	Laden journeys
	Million	Thousand	Million	Number	Thousand
2008	17,289	245,788	2,207	97,640	20,085
2009	12,071	148,328	1,585	87,616	12,659
2010	10,924	125,865	1,457	84,025	11,177
2011	9,941	110,260	1,338	81,178	10,168
2012	9,895	108,078	1,316	79,971	10,057
2013	9,138	108,831	1,261	76,967	9,925
2014	9,772	112,499	1,307	83,650	10,094
2015	9,844	118,059	1,302	87,094	10,279
2016	11,564	141,669	1,558	98,656	12,090
2017	11,759	147,229	1,592	108,479	12,827
2018	11,537	150,036	1,599	118,032	13,360
Source: CSO

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2018 Table 6.1 (XLS 12KB)

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Table 6.2 Road freight transport activity classified by main type of work and main use of vehicle, 2018
Main type of work done by vehicle	Tonne-km (million)			Tonnes carried (thousand)
Main type of work done by vehicle	Own account	Hire or reward	Total	Own account	Hire or reward	Total
Import/export work¹	37	2,290	2,327	196	10,614	10,810
Carriage of livestock	47	86	134	670	944	1,614
Carriage of other farm produce from farms	102	358	460	1,655	5,423	7,078
Carriage of fertilisers, feeding stuffs etc. to farms	149	314	463	2,780	4,430	7,210
Delivery of goods to road works or building sites	952	971	1,923	31,409	25,743	57,152
Delivery of goods to retail outlets	671	1,219	1,890	7,262	10,323	17,585
Delivery of goods to wholesalers	368	1,284	1,652	3,892	10,547	14,439
Delivery of materials and fuels to factories	228	1,012	1,241	3,368	11,221	14,588
Delivery of goods to households	222	38	260	4,340	532	4,872
Other work	430	757	1,188	6,273	8,416	14,689
Total	3,208	8,330	11,537	61,843	88,193	150,036
Source: CSO
¹Includes work done to and from ports as well as roll-on/roll-off and cross-border work

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2018 Table 6.2 (XLS 13KB)

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Table 6.3 Road freight transport activity classified by business of owner and main use of vehicle, 2018
Business of owner of vehicle		Tonne-km (million)			Tonnes carried (thousand)			Loaded vehicle kilometres (million)			Total vehicle kilometre (million)
Business of owner of vehicle		Own account	Hire or reward	Total	Own account	Hire or reward	Total	Own account	Hire or reward	Total	Own account	Hire or reward	Total
Transport		0	7,970	7,970	0	82,663	82,663	0	529	529	0	795	795
Manufacturing industry		1,184	0	1,184	31,426	0	31,426	119	0	119	209	0	209
	Mining & quarrying (incl. sand & gravel merchants)	390	0	390	13,335	0	13,335	20	0	20	39	0	39
	Creameries & agricultural cooperative societies	14	0	14	172	0	172	1	0	1	2	0	2
	Manufacture of food & feeding stuffs	205	0	205	3,021	0	3,021	32	0	32	51	0	51
	Manufacture of drink & tobacco	2	0	2	55	0	55	1	0	1	2	0	2
	Manufacture of glass, cement & clay products	344	0	344	12,038	0	12,038	24	0	24	45	0	45
	Other manufacturing	229	0	229	2,805	0	2,805	41	0	41	70	0	70
Building & construction		158	0	158	4,168	0	4,168	41	0	41	67	0	67
Distribution		1,188	188	1,376	14,804	3,403	18,208	196	23	219	297	37	334
Agriculture & livestock dealing		184	40	224	2,943	488	3,431	30	3	34	55	7	61
Local authorities		87	0	87	2,292	0	2,292	9	0	9	17	0	17
Other		406	132	537	6,210	1,640	7,849	47	33	81	71	46	117
Total		3,208	8,330	11,537	61,843	88,193	150,036	443	590	1,032	714	884	1,599
Source: CSO

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2018 Table 6.3 (XLS 14KB)

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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, 2008-2018
Year	Business of owner				Total tonnes carried
Year	Transport companies		Other companies		Total tonnes carried
	'000 tonnes carried	% share (tonne-km)	'000 tonnes carried	% share (tonne-km)	'000 tonnes carried
2008	99,385	58.5	146,403	41.5	245,788
2009	66,478	60.2	81,850	39.8	148,328
2010	58,839	61.7	67,026	38.3	125,865
2011	54,839	66.5	55,421	33.5	110,260
2012	58,337	69.3	49,741	30.7	108,078
2013	60,898	69.5	47,933	30.5	108,831
2014	65,240	71.3	47,260	28.7	112,499
2015	66,974	69.7	51,085	30.3	118,059
2016	86,970	72.8	54,700	27.2	141,669
2017	84,557	70.7	62,672	29.3	147,229
2018	82,663	69.1	67,373	30.9	150,036
Source: CSO

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2018 Table 6.4 (XLS 12KB)

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Table 6.5 Transport activity classified by national/international journeys and main use of vehicle, 2018
Type of journey		Tonne-km (million)			Tonnes carried (thousand)
Type of journey		Own account	Hire or reward	Total	Own account	Hire or reward	Total
National journeys		3,038	6,309	9,347	60,754	82,185	142,939
International journeys
	Goods loaded in Ireland	101	731	832	673	2,427	3,100
	Goods unloaded in Ireland	55	566	620	331	1,912	2,243
	Cross trade	12	678	690	22	1,174	1,196
	Cabotage	3	46	49	62	496	558
Total international		170	2,021	2,191	1,088	6,009	7,097
Total journeys		3,208	8,330	11,537	61,843	88,193	150,036
Source: CSO

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Table 6.6 Road freight transport activity classified by region of origin and region of destination, 2018
Region of origin	Region of destination										Total
Region of origin	Border	Midland	West	Dublin	Mid-East	Mid-West	South-East	South-West	Northern Ireland	Other countries	Total
	Tonne-km (million)
Border	302	47	62	165	110	34	50	65	77	95	1,006
Midland	58	156	73	122	62	45	64	48	37	31	697
West	44	42	296	171	41	62	44	53	14	44	812
Dublin	190	178	238	614	374	228	235	490	108	86	2,741
Mid-East	107	73	48	300	421	49	120	91	48	51	1,308
Mid-West	33	47	83	147	48	376	106	192	11	42	1,086
South-East	25	56	47	136	90	66	360	113	37	80	1,010
South-West	16	53	30	249	60	174	156	712	26	43	1,518
Northern Ireland	55	5	12	51	25	3	12	26	27	15	231
Other countries	32	10	23	231	35	18	32	50	15	682	1,128
Total	863	666	913	2,185	1,266	1,054	1,180	1,840	401	1,169	11,537
	Tonnes carried (thousand)
Border	7,932	472	509	1,260	1,037	128	221	201	874	144	12,777
Midland	763	4,097	679	1,182	796	435	636	242	210	54	9,093
West	423	423	7,419	808	209	507	204	266	76	42	10,377
Dublin	1,334	1,556	1,109	20,253	7,895	1,141	1,754	1,952	638	182	37,815
Mid-East	1,251	906	265	6,088	13,114	288	1,378	354	397	71	24,113
Mid-West	157	460	666	802	311	10,260	1,056	2,312	44	53	16,123
South-East	116	534	214	1,006	874	612	9,917	875	124	83	14,354
South-West	53	266	135	1,001	240	1,943	1,173	16,468	70	37	21,387
Northern Ireland	745	30	53	316	259	12	46	76	374	21	1,932
Other countries	58	24	38	380	63	35	46	63	26	1,333	2,066
Total	12,832	8,768	11,088	33,096	24,798	15,360	16,432	22,808	2,833	2,021	150,036
	Vehicle kilometres (million)
Border	51	9	11	25	14	4	4	5	7	6	136
Midland	9	29	14	22	12	7	7	7	3	2	111
West	10	12	65	24	6	10	4	5	1	3	140
Dublin	25	24	25	126	58	23	28	39	9	8	366
Mid-East	14	12	6	55	68	7	15	9	5	3	193
Mid-West	5	6	10	21	6	66	10	30	1	4	159
South-East	3	7	5	25	14	10	68	15	2	6	156
South-West	4	7	6	37	9	29	17	112	3	3	227
Northern Ireland	6	2	1	8	4	1	2	3	2	1	29
Other Countries	2	1	2	15	3	2	2	3	1	50	82
Total	130	109	144	358	192	160	158	228	35	85	1,599
Source: CSO

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2018 Table 6.6 (XLS 14KB)

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Table 6.7 Road freight transport activity classified by country of origin and country of destination, 2018
Country of origin	Country of destination										Total
Country of origin	Belgium	France	Germany	Ireland	Italy	Netherlands	Spain	United Kingdom	Other EU	Other countries¹	Total
		Tonne-km (million)
Belgium	0	1	3	15	2	3	0	29	6	0	59
France	2	32	2	56	12	1	20	39	1	5	171
Germany	2	4	3	29	0	6	2	21	5	0	74
Ireland	16	58	35	9,347	64	46	41	511	39	21	10,178
Italy	0	5	0	18	14	0	0	12	0	0	49
Netherlands	1	0	3	49	0	1	0	49	10	0	115
Spain	0	12	5	29	0	0	14	0	1	0	61
United Kingdom	17	36	16	386	7	25	0	172	37	0	695
Other EU	1	0	11	33	0	3	0	61	7	2	118
Other countries¹	0	2	0	5	0	0	0	10	0	1	17
Total	40	151	79	9,967	99	84	79	905	105	29	11,537
		Tonnes carried (thousand)
Belgium	4	6	12	18	2	8	0	46	7	0	102
France	7	67	4	67	11	1	23	65	3	8	255
Germany	5	5	15	29	0	14	3	30	11	0	112
Ireland	17	81	27	142,939	40	50	23	2,822	23	17	146,039
Italy	0	7	0	12	29	0	0	8	0	0	57
Netherlands	3	1	6	60	0	9	0	51	10	0	139
Spain	0	14	3	16	0	0	22	0	1	0	56
United Kingdom	25	58	23	2,024	4	40	0	954	34	0	3,162
Other EU	3	0	13	14	0	1	1	43	20	5	100
Other countries¹	0	3	0	3	0	0	0	9	0	1	16
Total	63	242	102	145,182	86	122	72	4,028	107	31	150,036
Source: CSO
¹Includes any country which is not a member state of the EU

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2018 Table 6.7 (XLS 14KB)

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Table 6.8 Road freight transport activity classified by group of goods and main use of vehicle, 2018
Group of goods (NST 2007)	Tonne-km (million)			Tonnes carried (thousand)
Group of goods (NST 2007)	Own account	Hire or reward	Total	Own account	Hire or reward	Total
Products of agriculture, forestry & fishing	216	773	989	2,928	8,377	11,304
Coal & natural gas	28	46	75	295	466	761
Quarry products, metal ores & peat	717	777	1,495	22,730	19,720	42,450
Foodstuffs	519	2,266	2,785	6,531	18,340	24,872
Textiles & leather	20	62	82	266	475	741
Wood, pulp & paper	142	472	614	1,542	4,411	5,952
Coke & refined petroleum products	441	303	744	5,719	3,548	9,267
Chemicals & plastics	40	479	520	601	4,066	4,667
Other non-metallic mineral products	364	616	981	11,408	11,238	22,645
Metal products (exc. machinery & equipment)	40	172	212	433	1,334	1,767
Machinery & equipment	62	150	211	921	1,016	1,937
Furniture & other manufactured goods	42	157	200	622	1,141	1,763
Secondary raw materials & waste	192	136	328	2,940	1,247	4,186
Other goods	383	1,920	2,302	4,909	12,814	17,723
Total	3,208	8,330	11,537	61,843	88,193	150,036
Source: CSO

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2018 Table 6.8 (XLS 13KB)

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Table 6.9 Number of licensed road hauliers by county, 2011 - 2018
County	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Carlow	93	86	82	80	72	75	77	75
Cavan	107	93	89	87	85	86	89	93
Clare	118	100	96	91	85	88	85	91
Cork	516	471	461	460	445	436	439	429
Donegal	168	158	160	154	148	156	158	156
Dublin	581	549	522	534	537	539	561	574
Galway	195	169	168	166	170	171	168	162
Kerry	147	136	131	132	120	117	118	115
Kildare	275	256	248	237	234	234	231	236
Kilkenny	135	123	120	123	114	118	113	110
Laois	118	108	108	109	109	111	115	118
Leitrim	35	28	23	24	25	25	26	27
Limerick	183	167	155	152	144	143	143	138
Longford	47	42	40	39	37	38	38	38
Louth	174	157	153	151	144	150	148	146
Mayo	137	118	112	112	106	106	111	112
Meath	252	218	217	218	217	226	234	227
Monaghan	160	153	145	142	144	145	145	155
Offaly	77	73	64	63	68	65	63	69
Roscommon	87	80	78	79	79	73	76	78
Sligo	73	64	61	54	55	59	63	59
Tipperary	210	190	175	181	182	186	185	191
Waterford	61	65	60	63	63	63	60	59
Westmeath	71	66	64	65	64	66	67	71
Wexford	225	213	215	214	209	204	215	220
Wicklow	135	116	105	110	107	116	122	124
Total	4,380	3,999	3,852	3,840	3,763	3,796	3,850	3,873
Source: Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2018 Table 6.9 (XLS 13KB)

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