What do we see?
Between 2010 and 2017, the overall use intensity of freight vehicles decreased by an average of 10%, dropping 12% for trucks, 13% for lorry cabins and 9% for vans. Looking at vans in particular, we can see a rise of almost 15% in the number of kilometres driven. However, in the same period the number of vans grew by 25%, leading to an overall decrease in the use intensity of around 9%. As the first graph shows, there was an increase in the number of vans on the road as a result of, for example, increased online shopping. However, the use intensity of the vehicles did not follow this trend, leading to a reduced use of the vehicles and a proportionally higher increase in the fleet.
What’s the aim?
The lower the number of vehicles needed to fulfil our mobility requirements, the lower the material demand and impact. This is why in a circular economy we aim for an increased use intensity in order to provide the same service with a lower number of vehicles.
What does this indicator measure?
The use intensity of freight transport vehicles is the estimated average of the number of kilometres driven per vehicle per year. To calculate it, we divide the total number of freight vehicle kilometres by the number of freight vehicles. The number of vehicle kilometres is based on odometers and the number of vehicles is based on the number of freight vehicles registered in Flanders. Both data sets were provided by the Federal Public Service Mobility & Transport and include the years up to 2017.
