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Published: 28 April 2017

Slightly more goods were transported by lorries in 2016 than in the previous year

Measured by tonnes, three per cent more goods were transported by lorries in domestic and international transport in 2016 than in the previous year. Tonne-kilometres increased by ten per cent. These data derive from the statistics on goods transport by road compiled by Statistics Finland.

Domestic transport

In 2016, lorries transported 275 million tonnes of goods in domestic transport, which was three per cent more than one year before. The total length of transport journeys driven was 1.9 billion kilometres, which was 16 per cent more than in 2015. The total number of tonne-kilometres was 25 billion, which was 15 per cent more than in the year before. Tonne-kilometre describes the volume of transport and is obtained as a product of the transported volume of goods given in tonnes and the length of the transport journey in kilometres.

Annual volume of goods transported by lorries in domestic transport

Professional or licensed transport accounted for 85 per cent of the tonnes of all transported goods, which was one per cent more than in the year before. The share of licensed transport was 93 per cent of all tonne-kilometres, which was the same as in the year before.

Examined by type of lorry, the volume of goods transported by lorries without trailer was 17 per cent lower and by semi-trailer combinations eight per cent lower in 2016 than in 2015. In turn, the volume of goods transported by full trailer combinations increased by 17 per cent year-on-year. The transport performance for lorries without trailer and semi-trailer combinations was at the same level in 2015 and 2016. The transport performance for full trailer combinations, in turn, increased by 19 per cent in 2016 compared with the previous year.

The use of full trailer combinations in goods transport has grown steadily between 2011 and 2016 both measured in tonnes and tonne-kilometres. At the beginning of the reference period, 46 per cent of goods (70% of tonne-kilometres) were transported with full trailer combinations, while the corresponding share last year was 62 per cent of tonnes and 78 per cent of tonne-kilometres. The relative share of lorries without trailer measured in tonnes has over the corresponding period declined from 43 to 26 per cent, and measured in tonne-kilometres from 14 to 8 per cent. The use of semi-trailer combinations has remained more or less unchanged over the examined period.

The commonest type of full trailer combinations was one where the lorry used as the truck tractor had three axles and the actual trailer attached to the drawbar coupling of the lorry had five axles. In 2016 measured in tonnes, 46 million tonnes of goods were transported by such full trailer combinations and their transport performance was 7.7 billion tonne-kilometres. The commonest combination for semi-trailer combinations was a three-axle truck tractor with a three-axle semi-trailer attached to the fifth wheel coupling. In 2016 measured in tonnes, 16 million tonnes of goods were transported by such full trailer combinations and their transport performance was 2.2 billion tonne-kilometres.

In 2016, lorries with a total weight of over 53 tonnes transported 171 million tonnes of goods, which was 62 per cent of the total volume of goods transported. The share grew by nine percentage points from the year before. The transport performance of lorries with a total weight of over 53 tonnes was 18.9 billion tonne-kilometres in 2016, which was 77 per cent of total transport performance. The share grew by four per cent from the year before.

When lorries are classified measured by the total weight category into lorries weighing under 53, 53 to 60, 60 to 68, and over 68 tonnes, the relative share of the transport performance in 2015 for lorries in each group was around one-quarter, that is 27, 25, 24 and 23 per cent, respectively. In 2016, the corresponding figures were 23, 21, 24 and 32 per cent, so the growth in the total weight of vehicle combinations has been considerable compared with 2015.

Measured by tonnes, 70 per cent of all goods were transported on journeys of at most 100 kilometres in 2016. The share went down by three per cent from the year before. When the lengths of journeys are grouped into categories: 1 to 100, 101 to 200, 201 to 400, and over 400 kilometres, the relative share of the transport performance in 2016 for lorries in each group was around one-quarter, that is, 22, 22, 26 and 30 per cent, respectively.

Of types of goods, most gravel and other soil materials were transported, 90 million tonnes, which was one-third of all tonnes. Most transport performance was generated from transport of saw timber and pulpwood, 3.5 billion tonne-kilometres or 14 per cent of all tonne-kilometres. Measured in kilometres, empty lorries were transported most, 23 per cent of all kilometres.

The average transport journey was 73 kilometres in 2016, which was 11 kilometres more than one year earlier. The average transport journey was 19 kilometres for soil materials and 104 kilometres for saw timber and pulpwood. The average length of empty journeys was 45 kilometres, which was on the same level as one year earlier.

International transport

In 2016, lorries transported 4.4 million tonnes of goods in international transport, which was at the same level as in the year before. The transport performance totalled 2.3 billion tonne-kilometres, which was 26 per cent less than in 2015.

It should be noted that the statistics on goods transport by road always monitor the transport performance of a truck tractor selected to the survey during the survey period. The truck tractor selected to the sample may have several different trailers during the survey period. Therefore, if trailers are hauled to a harbour from which they continue in sea transport without the truck tractor, the monitoring of the transport ends there.

Source: Goods Transport by Road 2016, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Klaus Bossart 029 551 2602, liikenne.matkailu@stat.fi

Director in charge: Mari Ylä-Jarkko

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Updated 28.4.2017