Annex B
BMRB SURVEY OF FOREIGN REGISTERED LORRIES
FOR DETR
INTRODUCTION
The survey was carried out for DETR to provide information
about the extent to which foreign operators undertake haulage
activity entirely within the UK (cabotage). It also provides some
additional information about the activities of foreign-registered
vehicles in the United Kingdom.
It was designed in consultation with the Road
Haulage Association (RHA) and conducted by the British Market
Research Bureau (BMRB) Ltd on behalf of DETR. The RHA and the
Freight Transport Association were also involved in discussions
on the proposed survey after the pilot survey results were known.
SUMMARY
The results of the survey confirm that, as previously
estimated from the permit system, the cabotage penetration rate
of foreign operators in the United Kingdom is very small, at about
0.06 per cent (Annex A). This figure is consistent with recently
published estimates made by the European Commission (EC) for individual
member states1.
The majority (68 per cent) of foreign registered
vehicles picked up goods to take back out of the UK, although
most only took one consignment. By comparison, DETR's International
Road Haulage Survey indicates that around 90 per cent of UK registered
vehicles carrying loads on international journeys from the UK
are partly or fully loaded on their return.
METHODOLOGY
Following a pilot survey in December 1999, the
survey was carried out from 13 January to 9 February 2000 at the
Ashford Services Truckstop. This is used as a rest stop for drivers
on the M20 travelling to/from the Channel Tunnel or the Port of
Dover. (The Channel Tunnel and the Channel Ports together account
for over 80 per cent of foreign registered goods vehicles leaving
the UK each year.) Interviews were carried out with 1,019 drivers
of foreign registered lorries that were leaving the United Kingdom.
Possible language difficulties were overcome by the use of foreign
language speaking interviewers. A copy of the questionnaire used
for the interviews is attached. It was available in five languages
as well as English. Drivers were interviewed in the restaurant/rest
area after they had left their lorries in the lorry park.
RESULTS
Cabotage—Overall estimate
— The cabotage penetration rate was
estimated from the survey results to be 0.06 per cent. Details
of the estimate are provided at Annex A.
The lorries and their drivers (Table 1)
— One third of the vehicles were registered
in France, nearly a third in Belgium/Netherlands and 18 per cent
in the Republic of Ireland. No other country had a share greater
than 5 per cent;
— 30 per cent of the drivers lived in France,
21 per cent in Belgium/Netherlands and 12 per cent in the Republic
of Ireland. In addition, 21 per cent lived in the United Kingdom.
They drove vehicles registered in a variety of countries;
— 10 per cent of the drivers said that
they were working for United Kingdom operators. Their vehicles
were mainly registered in the Netherlands, or to a lesser extent
the Republic of Ireland.
Consignments brought into the United Kingdom (Tables
2 and 3)
— A negligible number of vehicles (1
per cent) were empty when they arrived in the country; just over
two thirds had brought in one consignment;
— 36 per cent of vehicles bringing goods
into the UK were registered in France, followed by Netherlands
(21 per cent), Belgium (12 per cent), and Ireland (10 per cent).
Cabotage (a consignment loaded and unloaded in
the UK by a foreign operator) (Tables 4 and 5)
— Only 3 per cent of drivers reported
that they had carried out cabotage work whilst in the UK, and
most of these had just picked up one consignment;
— Nearly three quarters of the vehicles
carrying out cabotage were registered in France, Netherlands or
Belgium.
Additional points relating to cabotage
Consignments loaded in the UK to be unloaded in
Europe (Tables 6 and 7)
— Two thirds of vehicles had picked
up goods to take back out of the UK; 59 per cent were carrying
just one consignment;
— As was the case with goods being brought
into the country, the highest percentage of vehicles with return
loads were registered in France (38 per cent), followed by Netherlands
(25 per cent) and Belgium (10 per cent).
RELATED EC ESTIMATES
The second EC report on cabotage[42]
has recently been published. It provides estimates, based on permits
issued, of the cabotage penetration rate (cabotage as a percentage
of national transport) in each of the Member States. The latest
full year for which figures are available is 1997. The report
indicates that UK penetration rate was 0.05 per cent in 1997.
The report also provides evidence, based on survey data from five
Member States that accounted for about half of the cabotage carried
in the EC, that there was little increase in cabotage in the second
half of 1998 following the abolition of quantitative restrictions
in July 1998.
QUALITY OF
DATA
It is believe that the survey has produced a
reliable estimate of the magnitude of cabotage in the UK. However,
although the survey methodology was sound, and good response from
the drivers led to a substantial sample being achieved, the detailed
results must be treated with some caution. They relate only to
traffic through the Channel Tunnel and the Channel Ports (which
together account for over 80 per cent of foreign registered goods
vehicles leaving the UK each year), and the survey was only carried
out for one month during the year. In addition the achieved sample
of cabotage consignments provides a small base for analysis.
There is no reason however to think that interviewing
drivers only at the Truck Stop has produced unrepresentative results.
Only a few of the drivers interviewed had their journey documentation
with them in the rest area when answering the questionnaire, but
it is not thought that this would have had any significant effect
on the accuracy of the data provided. There was feedback from
interviewers that some Eastern European drivers were somewhat
vague about the work that they had done in Britain. However, these
accounted for less than three per cent of the drivers in the sample
and so the overall accuracy of survey results in unlikely to have
been significantly affected.
A number of the lorries registered in the Irish
Republic were carrying goods through the UK for delivery outside
the UK. These consignments have been excluded from Tables 2 and
6, because they were not loaded/unloaded in the UK. However, the
journeys have been retained in Table 4 and 5 because, although
they were in transit through the UK, the lorries also had the
opportunity to carry out cabotage.
CONTACT POINT
Further details on the survey can be obtained
from Chris Overson, Transport Statistics Freight Division, Department
of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, Great Minster House,
76 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DR, telephone 020 7944 4276.
42 1 Second report on the implementation of Regulation
(EEC) 3118/93 laying down the conditions under which non-resident
carriers may operate national road haulage services within a Member
State (Cabotage). Published 1 March 2000. Back
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