Facts and Figures on Trucking in Europe

- Trucks give you the freedom to live wherever you want:

From small isolated villages to bustling metropolises, people rely on trucks to bring them the goods they need. Trucks are the only way to reach most of Europe’s hundreds of thousands of stores, restaurants, factories and homes.

Trucks carry your TV and computer, your swimming suit, your toothpaste, your medicine, the toys for your children, your fruits and vegetables and the materials to build your house – all along the production chain, to your local store and doorstep.

- Trucks deliver nearly 75% of all goods in Europe:

Why are trucks the number one transport choice for most businesses?

Because they are highly reliable and provide a very flexible service. Trucks can go anywhere in Europe and are the only transport mode that can carry goods from door to door. This is why nearly 75% of the volume and 90% of the value of all goods in Europe are transported by truck.

- Over 6 million jobs in Europe depend directly on trucks:

Almost 3 million people work directly for the trucking industry: drivers, logistics experts, dispatchers, operations managers, etc.

Another 3.5 million people earn their living in directly related industries, such as truck manufacturing, repairing, selling, leasing and insuring. Even those figures do not give the full picture, because jobs that depend on the trucking industry are far more numerous than those related directly to it. Almost every business needs trucking services to operate efficiently.

Trucks keep business competitive and people employed.

- Trucks in Europe pay over 100 billion Euros per year in taxes:

Trucks are taxed in a variety of ways. There are fuel taxes, vehicle ownership taxes, road user fees and highway tolls and other road freight transport-related levies. The amount of tax paid by trucking companies is significantly more than what governments allocate to highway construction or infrastructure maintenance.

In fact, all road vehicles, including trucks, pay more than twice as much in taxes and tolls than is spent to build and maintain the road transport infrastructure.

- 25 modern trucks make no more noise than one built in 1980:

Technological innovations such as special insulation, the introduction of low rolling resistance tyres and other noisecontrol techniques applied at source have significantly reduced noise levels compared to 1980, making today’s trucks quieter than ever!

Further reductions can be achieved if, for example, infrastructure managers ensure the use of low rolling resistant surfaces on roads.