Slight decline in transport by lorry

Published:

Transport performance carried out by lorries decreased by 1.3 per cent and ended at 21 billion tonne-kilometres from 2015 to 2016, according to new figures from the statistics Road goods transport by Norwegian lorries. The transported freight volume decreased by 0.7 per cent.

Norwegian lorries transported 264 million tonnes of goods domestically; 0.7 per cent less than the year before. In connection with trips to and from abroad, 4.9 million tonnes were transported; an increase of 3.8 per cent. However, transport performance in connection with foreign transport decreased by 9.4 per cent in the same period.

Figure 1

Figure 1. National and international transport by Norwegian lorries

1.4 billion kilometers with load

In total, Norwegian lorries drove almost 200 million kilometres less than in 2015. Of a total of two billion kilometres driven in 2016, 1.4 billion were driven with load. This means that 27.7 per cent of the distance travelled were done without a load, an increase of 3.4 percentage points from the previous year.

Figure 2. National transports. Vehicle kilometres by Norwegian lorries

Unloaded vehicle-kilometres Vehicle kilometres with load
2007 444.4 1203.2
2008 470.2 1310.2
2009 455.2 1213.0
2010 452.0 1304.0
2011 448.0 1297.5
2012 494.1 1379.7
2013 493.3 1465.3
2014 535.7 1469.3
2015 491.3 1501.5
2016 518.3 1325.3

Mass transport dominates

Norwegian lorries transported 163.1 million tonnes of gravel, sand, soil etc. on Norwegian roads in 2016. Mass transport increased by 1.4 per cent from 2015. Mass transport totalled 61.8 per cent of the total transport volume in 2016. As these trips are short, transport performance accounted for just under 28 per cent of the total domestic transport performance, corresponding to 5.2 billion tonne-kilometres.

Figure 3. National transport tonnage carried by commodity. 4rd quarter 2016

Tonnage carried (mill.tonnes)
Agricultural products, forestry products, fishing products 9.2% 24.2
Food products, beverages, tobaco and animal fodder 6.7% 17.6
Coal, oil and chemicals and chemical products (incl. fertilizer) 10.2% 26.8
Metal ores, stone, sand, gravel, clay, salt, cement, lime, manufactured construction materials 61.8% 163.0
Other manufactured goods, grouped goods and other goods 12.2% 32.3

Figure 4. National transport performance by commodity. 4rd quarter 2016

Transport performance (million tonne kilometres)
Agricultural products, forestry products, fishing products 15.7% 2907.8
Food products, beverages, tobaco and animal fodder 17.6% 3253.5
Coal, oil and chemicals and chemical products (incl. fertilizer) 10.9% 2017.7
Metal ores, stone, sand, gravel, clay, salt, cement, lime, manufactured construction materials 27.9% 5172.9
Other manufactured goods, grouped goods and other goods 27.9% 5163.7

Increased share for hired transport

The share of hire transport of the total transport performance increased from 2015 to 2016. In 2016, 82.5 per cent of the transport performance was carried out by lorries in the hire transport, while the share of hire transport was 79.5 per cent in 2015. The share of the transported amount was slightly less, but increased from 61.2 to 67.7 per cent in the same period.

Less transport performance in the 4th quarter

Norwegian lorries carried out a transport performance of 4.7 billion tonne-kilometres domestically in the 4th quarter of 2016. This is 2.5 per cent less than in the same quarter of 2015. The transport volume increased by 7.2 per cent to 74.2 million tonnes. In international transport with Norwegian-registered lorries, transport performance decreased by 12 per cent compared to the same quarter in the 2015. However, freight tonnage carried increased by 0.3 per cent in the same period.

New statistical methods can affect comparability

A new sample method was introduced in the 3rd quarter of 2015, and in the 1st quarter of 2016 a new questionnaire was launched and new estimation routines were adopted. These changes can affect comparability between some variables such as tonnes and tonnes-kilometres, commodity distribution and distribution between transport for hire or reward and transport for own account driving.

Contact