Road goods transport by Norwegian lorries, Q4 2003

Lorries registered in Norway transported 226.8 million tonnes of goods in Norway in 2003, while 4.6 million tonnes were transported abroad. 4.4 million tonnes were transported to/from Norway leaving 0.2 million tonnes to be transported within a different country than Norway (cabotage) and between two foreign countries (cross-trade) with Norwegian lorries.

Gravel nationally, mixed cargo internationally

Of the goods transported in Norway, transport of gravel etc. constituted 119.5 million tonnes or 52.7 per cent. Transports abroad were dominated by transport of mixed cargo with a share of 46 per cent of total tonnes transported abroad. Transport in Norway amounted to 1471.7 million vehicle-kilometres in 2003 while the number for international transport was 193.8 million vehicle-kilometres.

Small increase in empty kilometers

The rate of empty kilometers for national transport was 26.3 per cent in 2003. This is a small increase from 26.1 per cent in 2002. We observe the same tendency for international transport where the rate has increased from 13.7 per cent in 2002 to 15.2 per cent in 2003.

Average length of haul increased for public haulage

The average length of haul per tonne for national transport is approximately the same in 2003 as it was in 2002. However, for national public haulage the average length of haul per tonne increased from 73.5 to 77.9 kilometres per tonne. Norwegian lorries in international transport show a decreasing average length from 711.8 kilometres per tonne in 2002 to 674.2 kilometres per tonne in 2003.

Most transport to and from Sweden

International transports contributed to about 2 per cent of the total amount of goods transported by Norwegian lorries in 2003. Transport to and from EU-countries amounted to as much as 98 per cent of the international transport. Norwegian lorries do most of its international transport to and from Sweden with a total of 68.7 per cent of total amount of goods transported abroad.

Germany is the second largest marked for Norwegian lorries measured in tonnes transported with a share of 8.9 per cent while Denmark is the third largest with a share of 5.6 per cent.

International competition

Even though Norwegian lorries transport much to/from Sweden, figures from SCB's road goods transport survey show that Swedish registered lorries transported 15 per cent more to/from Norway measured in tonnes transported. The amount of tonnes of goods transported with Swedish lorries to/from Norway has increased by over 20 per cent from 2002 to 2003. We also discover great differences in the structure of this transport. While Norwegian lorries operating to/from Sweden transported about half of the total tonnes of goods in each direction, Swedish lorries transported three times as much to Norway than from Norway.

Figures from Statistics Denmark show that Danish lorries transported more than four times as much goods to/from Norway than Norwegian lorries transported to/from Denmark. The activity for Danish lorries in transport to/from Norway has also increased considerably from 2002 to 2003 (+ 15 per cent).

As of the first quarter 2003 the road goods transport survey has seen considerable alterations. As a consequence the results are not directly comparable to 2002- and earlier figures, but the main outlines of the transport performances can still be followed back to the survey's origin in 1963.

Tables:

• Table 1 National and international transports for hire or reward and own account. Transport performances. Quarter
• Table 2 National transports for hire or reward and own account. Tonnage carried and transport performance, by commodity. Quarter. Mill. tonnes
• Table 3 International transports for hire or reward. Tonnage carried and transport performance, by commodity. Quarter
• Table 4 International transports for hire or reward and own account, to and from Norway. Tonnage carried and transport performance. Quarter
• Table 5 Comparisons with other Nordic countries. Tonnage carried. Million tonnes
• Table 6 Comparisons with other Nordic countries. Transport performance. Million tonne-kilometres