{"id":10224,"date":"2025-02-05T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-05T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acea.auto\/?post_type=facts&#038;p=10224"},"modified":"2025-03-21T17:00:11","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T16:00:11","slug":"trucks-what-they-are-and-why-they-are-so-important","status":"publish","type":"facts","link":"https:\/\/www.acea.auto\/fact\/trucks-what-they-are-and-why-they-are-so-important\/","title":{"rendered":"Trucks: what they are and why they are so important"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"intro block-container\"><p>Road freight transport is the backbone of trade and commerce on the European continent. Trucks carry 75% of all freight transported over land in the European Union.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"cntnt block-container\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-are-trucks\">What are trucks?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The European classification system defines trucks as \u201cmotor vehicles with at least four wheels, used for the carriage of goods\u201d. They have a mass of more than 3.5 tonnes.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Under this system, trucks are either classified in the N2 category (weighing more than 3.5 tonnes) or N3 (weighing more than 12 tonnes). <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>N3 vehicles are also referred to as \u2018heavy trucks\u2019 or \u2018heavy commercial vehicles\u2019.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The end-use of trucks varies widely \u2013 they may for instance be used for long-haul or regional delivery, for construction or for municipality use.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Depending on their mission, most trucks are custom-built on an individual basis, often in a multi-stage process, in order to meet specific requirements. They can vary from the number of axles to the size of the engine, fuel tank, or cab, to the height of the chassis.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>When taking the complete vehicle into account \u2013 a rigid body or a tractor plus a trailer \u2013 the truck market becomes even more complex. There are literally thousands of shapes and sizes of trucks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-why-are-trucks-so-important\">Why are trucks so important?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Road freight transport is the backbone of trade and commerce on the European continent.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Trucks carry 75% of all freight transported over land in the European Union.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Trucks function as part of a logistics chain whose components also include inland waterways, shipping, air and rail transport. While separately, each has its own advantages, combined they form an integrated system.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The other transport modes also depend on trucks to transfer freight to and from depots, rail terminals, airfields, and ports.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Not only do trucks remain the most flexible, responsive and economic mode of transport for the vast majority of goods and freight, they are also essential to the functioning of the larger, integrated European logistics and transport system.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Most of our daily necessities, such as fresh food from the supermarket or corner shop, electronics and appliances, clothing, and so on, depend on trucks at some point in the distribution chain.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Many essential public services are delivered by trucks, such as garbage collection, fire and construction services.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n\t\t<blockquote class=\"shareable-blockquote\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"content\">Road freight transport is the backbone of trade and commerce on the European continent. Trucks carry 75% of all freight transported over land in the European Union.<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"share-links\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"share-buttons\"><a class=\"twitter resp-sharing-button__link\" aria-label=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet\/?text=Road%20freight%20transport%20is%20the%20backbone%20of%20trade%20and%20commerce%20on%20the%20European%20continent.%20Trucks%20carry%2075%25%20of%20all%20freight%20transported%20over%20land%20in%20the%20European%20Union.&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.acea.auto%2Ffact%2Ftrucks-what-they-are-and-why-they-are-so-important%2F\" target=\"_blank\">\n                    <span class=\"resp-sharing-button resp-sharing-button--twitter resp-sharing-button--small\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"resp-sharing-button__icon resp-sharing-button__icon--solid\">\n                        <i class=\"social-icon twitter\"><\/i>\n                    <\/span>\n                <\/span>\n            <\/a><a class=\"linkedin resp-sharing-button__link\" aria-label=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.acea.auto%2Ffact%2Ftrucks-what-they-are-and-why-they-are-so-important%2F&amp;title=Road%20freight%20transport%20is%20the%20backbone%20of%20trade%20and%20commerce%20on%20the%20European%20continent.%20Trucks%20carry%2075%25%20of%20all%20freight%20transported%20over%20land%20in%20the%20European%20Union.&amp;summary=&amp;source=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.acea.auto%2Ffact%2Ftrucks-what-they-are-and-why-they-are-so-important%2F\" target=\"_blank\">\n                    <span class=\"resp-sharing-button resp-sharing-button--linkedin resp-sharing-button--small\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"resp-sharing-button__icon resp-sharing-button__icon--solid\">\n                        <i class=\"social-icon linkedin\"><\/i>\n                    <\/span>\n                <\/span>\n            <\/a><a class=\"facebook resp-sharing-button__link\" aria-label=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.acea.auto%2Ffact%2Ftrucks-what-they-are-and-why-they-are-so-important%2F\" target=\"_blank\">\n                    <span class=\"resp-sharing-button resp-sharing-button--facebook resp-sharing-button--small\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"resp-sharing-button__icon resp-sharing-button__icon--solid\">\n                        <i class=\"social-icon facebook\"><\/i>\n                    <\/span>\n                <\/span>\n            <\/a><a class=\"whatsapp resp-sharing-button__link\" aria-label=\"\" href=\"whatsapp:\/\/send?text=Road%20freight%20transport%20is%20the%20backbone%20of%20trade%20and%20commerce%20on%20the%20European%20continent.%20Trucks%20carry%2075%25%20of%20all%20freight%20transported%20over%20land%20in%20the%20European%20Union.%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.acea.auto%2Ffact%2Ftrucks-what-they-are-and-why-they-are-so-important%2F\" data-action=\"share\/whatsapp\/share\">\n                    <span class=\"resp-sharing-button resp-sharing-button--whatsapp resp-sharing-button--small\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"resp-sharing-button__icon resp-sharing-button__icon--solid\">\n                        <i class=\"social-icon whatsapp\"><\/i>\n                    <\/span>\n                <\/span>\n            <\/a><a class=\"email resp-sharing-button__link\" aria-label=\"\" href=\"mailto:?subject=Road%20freight%20transport%20is%20the%20backbone%20of%20trade%20and%20commerce%20on%20the%20European%20continent.%20Trucks%20carry%2075%25%20of%20all%20freight%20transported%20over%20land%20in%20the%20European%20Union.&amp;body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.acea.auto%2Ffact%2Ftrucks-what-they-are-and-why-they-are-so-important%2F\" target=\"_self\">\n                    <span class=\"resp-sharing-button resp-sharing-button--email resp-sharing-button--small\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"resp-sharing-button__icon resp-sharing-button__icon--solid\">\n                        <i class=\"social-icon email\"><\/i>\n                    <\/span>\n                <\/span>\n            <\/a><a class=\"print resp-sharing-button__link\" aria-label=\"\" href=\"javascript:;\" onclick=\"window.print()\" target=\"_self\">\n                    <span class=\"resp-sharing-button resp-sharing-button--print resp-sharing-button--small\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"resp-sharing-button__icon resp-sharing-button__icon--solid\">\n                        <i class=\"social-icon print\"><\/i>\n                    <\/span>\n                <\/span>\n            <\/a><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-in-figures\">In figures<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>6 million<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013 Today, there are more than 6 million trucks in circulation throughout the EU.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>14.1 years&nbsp;<\/strong>\u2013 The average age of Europe\u2019s trucks is 14.1 years.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>327,896 <\/strong>new trucks were sold in the EU in 2024, a decrease of 6.3% compared to 2023.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>32<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013 There are 32 truck assembly plants in Europe.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>603,437<\/strong> trucks were manufactured in the EU in 2023.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>166,030 <\/strong>trucks (over 5 tonnes) were exported worldwide in 2023, worth \u20ac7.7 billion.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>\u20ac6 billion&nbsp;<\/strong>\u2013 Trucks generate an annual trade surplus of \u20ac6 billion for the EU.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>50%<\/strong>&nbsp;of heavy trucks built in the United States now come from European-owned factories, based on European technology.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>95.1% <\/strong>of all new trucks sold in the European Union are powered by diesel, and 0.03% by petrol.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>2.3%<\/strong> \u2013 Electrically-chargeable trucks (battery electric, plug-in hybrid) together represent 2.3% of new registrations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>0.1%<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013 Trucks with electrically-chargeable powertrains represent only 0.1% of the current heavy truck fleet.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>3,444,956 <\/strong>people are employed in the road freight transport sector.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>150 km\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 In modern economies, 73% of road freight tonnage is carried over distances of 150km or less, along routes for which no other form of transport would be realistic. Less than 2% gets carried over 1,000 km.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>36%&nbsp;<\/strong>\u2013 Despite the increase in freight transport, fatalities involving heavy goods vehicles decreased by 36% between 2010 and 2023.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n\t\t<blockquote class=\"shareable-blockquote\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"content\">166,030 trucks (over 5 tonnes) were exported worldwide in 2023, worth \u20ac7.7 billion. <\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"share-links\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"share-buttons\"><a class=\"twitter resp-sharing-button__link\" aria-label=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet\/?text=166%2C030%20trucks%20%28over%205%20tonnes%29%20were%20exported%20worldwide%20in%202023%2C%20worth%20%E2%82%AC7.7%20billion.%20&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.acea.auto%2Ffact%2Ftrucks-what-they-are-and-why-they-are-so-important%2F\" target=\"_blank\">\n                    <span class=\"resp-sharing-button resp-sharing-button--twitter resp-sharing-button--small\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\" 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