The number of licensed trucks in the UK increased by 1,138 over the past 28 days, rising from 390,168 to 391,306, according to the latest research by MT Fleet Data.
The research, based on weekly O-licence updates issued by the Office of the Traffic Commissioners, covers the UK’s largest third-party and own-account HGV fleet operators.
MT Fleet Data’s latest figures, covering the 28 days to 10 August, show growth of almost 0.3% compared with the previous month, with the overall truck parc continuing to edge upwards.
Meanwhile trailer numbers remained broadly stable during the month, with the database recording 311,717 trailers in August, compared with 311,863 in the same period in July – a decrease of just 146.
There were significant changes among individual fleets during the month, however, with several operators reporting substantial increases or reductions in truck numbers.
Among the largest increases were Next Distribution, which added 200 trucks, delivering the largest fleet increase recorded in the latest data.
AW Jenkinson fleet numbers rose by 179, while DPD added 159.
Ubico increased its truck fleet by 156, while LN Transport (Worcestershire) added 140 and Turners (Soham) increased by 113.
At the other end of the scale, DHL recorded the largest reduction, with its fleet falling by 890 trucks month on month.
Culina reduced its fleet by 380, while RXO Group was down by 259. XPO recorded a reduction of 183 trucks, with M Group (Services) down by 131 and UPS by 113.
MT Fleet Data, which is a subscription service, 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.
The research 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.
