The UK’s HGV fleet has remained largely unchanged over the past 15 months, but new operator licence data points to continued consolidation within the haulage sector, with medium-sized and larger third-party logistics operators increasing fleet numbers while smaller operators continue to contract.
According to Motor Transport’s latest Fleet Data research, which is based on the weekly O-licence updates issued by the Office of the Traffic Commissioner, the total number of licensed trucks and trailers stood at 545,390 at the beginning of July, up by just 2,170 vehicles (0.4%) compared with 543,220 at the end of March 2025.
Truck numbers have remained virtually static over the period, slipping marginally from 299,969 to 299,897, while trailer numbers have increased by 2,242, from 243,251 to 245,493.
The most significant changes have taken place within the third-party logistics (3PL) sector.
Combined 3PL fleets have increased from 346,667 vehicles to 351,138, a rise of 4,471 vehicles (1.3%), despite little movement in the national fleet overall.
The strongest growth has come from operators running between 100 and 499 trucks. Their combined fleets have grown by more than 6,100 vehicles, rising from 82,850 to 89,013—an increase of 7.4% over the period.
Larger logistics operators have also expanded. Companies operating fleets of more than 500 trucks increased their combined vehicle numbers from 198,490 to 202,131, up 1.8%, reinforcing the dominance of the sector’s biggest operators.
By contrast, operators with fleets of fewer than 100 trucks have continued to shrink. Their combined fleets have fallen from 65,427 vehicles to 60,053, a reduction of 5,374 vehicles, or 8.2%.
The figures suggest capacity is continuing to migrate away from smaller hauliers towards medium-sized and larger logistics businesses.
Own-account operators have also seen a slight decline. Their combined fleets fell from 195,149 vehicles in March 2025 to 194,193 in July 2026, a reduction of 956 vehicles (0.5%). Truck numbers within the sector edged down over the period, while trailer numbers remained broadly stable.
The data also shows that, despite fluctuations during the year, the overall HGV parc has remained remarkably consistent, hovering around the 545,000-vehicle mark throughout the period.
The stability of the national fleet contrasts with the changing profile of operators within it. Growth among medium-sized logistics businesses and continued expansion by the largest operators has been offset by a decline in smaller fleets, pointing to ongoing consolidation across the UK haulage market.
MT Fleet Data research also shows significant movements among individual operators, with both major fleet expansions and sizeable reductions recorded over the past month.
The largest increase was recorded by Gist, which added 520 vehicles to its licence, taking its total fleet to 4,666 vehicles. Other notable increases included Tarmac, up 95 vehicles to 478, Amazon UK Services, which added 72 vehicles to reach 1,034, and BWT UK, whose fleet grew by 60 vehicles to 193.
Among third-party logistics providers, Ceva increased its fleet by 50 vehicles to 2,949, while Pladis (UK) expanded by 40 vehicles to 452. Wolseley UK also recorded a notable increase, adding 45 vehicles to reach 808.
The biggest reduction was at Turners (Soham) Group, where licensed vehicle numbers fell by 270 to 7,674, although the company remains one of the UK’s largest HGV operators. Greene King Group reduced its fleet by 100 vehicles to 186, while UPS shed 49 vehicles, taking its total to 3,662.
Elsewhere, Truckwright reduced its fleet by 45 vehicles to 52, and Keltbray Plant fell by 30 vehicles to 111.
MT’s Fleet Data includes details of over 1,000 of the UK’s fleets with O-licences for 75 or more vehicles over 3.5 tonnes GVW. These fleets together have licences for over 300,000 trucks and 240,000 trailers – more than 540,000 commercial vehicles in total.
It pulls together the data for larger operators with several subsidiaries to give an overall picture of the group fleet size while still breaking the data down for each subsidiary.
