Road goods transport by foreign lorries, 2008

This is shown in new statistics based on surveys on road goods transport conducted by the EU/EEA countries.

Of the 8.1 million tonnes transported by foreign lorries, 7.6 million tonnes were transported into or out of Norway, while 0.5 million tonnes were carried from one place in Norway to another (cabotage). By way of comparison, the Norwegian lorry survey shows that the Norwegian lorries transported 282.8 million tonnes of goods domestically and 6.3 million tonnes into or out of Norway.

The foreign lorries had a transport performance of 6.3 billion tonne kilometres in their transport to, from and inside Norway during 2008. The transport performance concept is a product of the tonnage carried and the distance covered, and these figures also include the part of the distance driven abroad. The transport performance by the Norwegian lorries amounted to 20.6 billion tonne kilometres in total, of which 16.7 billion were domestically and 3.9 billion on international tours. Thus the foreign lorries’ share of the total transport performance by lorry to, from, and inside Norway was 23.5 per cent in 2008.

Swedish lorries dominate

Swedish lorries performed 1.8 billion tonne kilometres while driving to, from, or inside Norway in 2008, while Danish lorries performed 1.2 billion. German and Polish lorries followed, both with 0.8 billion tonne kilometres. During 2008, Swedish lorries transported 3.7 million tonnes of goods in Norway, while Danish lorries transported 1.7 million tonnes on this territory.

More cross trade

The foreign lorries transport more goods from their home country to Norway than back. During 2008, 50.4 per cent of all the goods transported by these lorries were carried from their home country to Norway, while 26.4 per cent were carried from Norway and back home. In recent years it has become more common for the transporters to undertake transport commissions inside a foreign country, so called cabotage, or to transport goods from one foreign country to another, so called cross trade transport. In 2008, 17.2 per cent of the goods transported by foreign lorries to or from Norway was cross trade. In 2000, the share was only 6.2 per cent. The share of the tonnage carried in cabotage increased from 2.5 per cent in 2000 to 6 per cent in 2008.

A total of 488 thousand tonnes of goods were transported in cabotage by foreign lorries in Norway in 2008. This is 0.2 per cent of all goods carried by Norwegian and foreign lorries inside Norway that year. Cabotage transport is governed by international regulations. In principle, such transport is prohibited, but transporters from the EU/EEA countries have permission to transport goods inside another country for shorter periods of time. Norwegian lorries transported 264 thousand tonnes of goods as cabotage in other countries during 2008.

The Danish biggest on cabotage

During 2008, Danish lorries transported 228 thousand tonnes of goods from one place in Norway to another. This is more than any other country and amounts to 13.6 per cent of all the goods Danish lorries carried to, from or in Norway.

German lorries were biggest on cross trade. As much as 385 thousand tonnes of goods were transported between Norway and another country than Germany by these lorries. The German lorries carried less goods directly between Germany and Norway than between Norway and another country. German lorries had 52.6 per cent of their Norway transport as cross trade and 7.7 per cent as cabotage.

Tables:

• Table 1 Road goods transport by foreign lorries. Transport performances. 2000-2008