London, United Kingdom – The Department of Transport has 2006-05-25 published National Statistics on the number of road goods vehicles travelling to mainland Europe from Great Britain : first quarter 2006.

The figures presented here for foreign-registered vehicles (and hence total powered vehicles and the overall number of vehicles) are seasonally adjusted to help identify underlying trends, especially changes between successive quarters. All other figures are presented on an unadjusted basis, as they show no evidence of seasonality.

First quarter 2006

• The total number of vehicles travelling to mainland Europe was 708,000, a 1 per cent increase on the previous quarter and a 5 per cent increase compared with the first quarter of 2005.
• 519,600 of this total were powered vehicles, a 2 per cent increase on the previous quarter and a 5 per cent increase compared with the first quarter of 2005.
• The number of unaccompanied trailers fell by 3 per cent compared with the previous quarter, but was 3 per cent higher than in the first quarter of 2005.
• UK-registered vehicles accounted for 26 per cent of all powered vehicles – compared with 25 per cent a year ago.
• Detailed tables will appear on the DfT website. A detailed Bulletin will be published annually in February when full calendar results are available.
• The statistics are compiled from returns provided by roll-on/roll-off ferry operators and by Eurotunnel on the total number of vehicles travelling from GB to mainland Europe. Survey results are broken down by country of vehicle registration, by country of disembarkation and by GB port group. Separate figures are given for powered vehicles and unaccompanied trailers.
• Powered vehicles comprise rigid vehicles, lorries with semi-trailers (articulated units) and lorries with drawbar trailers. (Some vehicles under 3.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight are also included.) Unaccompanied trailers are trailers and semi-trailers not accompanied on the ferry by a powered unit. They are not carried on the freight shuttle.
• In previous years the annual results of the International Road Haulage Survey were published as a supplement to this Bulletin. This year the 2005 results of this survey will appear in Road Freight Statistics 2005 which will be published on 29 June 2006.
• The report is available on the Department’s website www.dft.gov.uk/transtat