The Growth of Road Freight in the UK
International Journal of Physical Distribution & Materials Management
ISSN: 0269-8218
Article publication date: 1 April 1989
Abstract
The volume of road freight movement in the UK has more than doubled over the past 25 years and its present growth is considerably exceeding official forecasts made in 1984. An attempt is made to explain why this growth has occurred, taking account of the close relationship between tonneākilometres and economic growth and outlining several spatial processes likely to have contributed to freight traffic growth. The spatial concentration of economic activity is identified as the dominant influence. The growth process appears to have undergone a major change during the 1980s, with the increase in average length of haul easing and the earlier downward trend in freight tonnage being sharply reversed. The implications of these recent trends for future freight traffic growth are discussed and an assessment made of the likely impact of the Channel Tunnel and deregulation of international haulage on the volume of road freight movement in the 1990s.
Keywords
Citation
McKinnon, A.C. (1989), "The Growth of Road Freight in the UK", International Journal of Physical Distribution & Materials Management, Vol. 19 No. 4, pp. 3-13. https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000000312
Publisher
:MCB UP Ltd
Copyright © 1989, MCB UP Limited