Truck fleet up but average age fails to fall

[kscarbel2]

Australasian Transport News / February 2, 2015

Australia’s trucking fleet is both growing and ageing, according to the latest registration data

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released its annual census of the national vehicle fleet, with some interesting insights into the state of it.

ABS numbers show that freight vehicles are growing in absolute number and in comparison to passenger vehicles on Australian roads, but they are also not getting any younger on average.

Rigid trucks accounted for 2.6 per cent of the total number of vehicles registered in 2014, down slightly from the 2.7 per cent recorded in the 2009 census year.

Numbers of light rigid trucks rose 22.5 per cent over the same period, while heavy rigid truck registrations have grown by 6 per cent since 2009.

While more trucks are taking to Australian roads, they are not necessarily new trucks. The influx has not changed the average age of the national freight transport fleet.

Light commercial vehicles have had an average of 10.4 years since 2009, while light rigid trucks have gotten older – from an average of 10.9 years in 2009 to 11.1 years during the 2014 survey.

The average ages of heavy rigid and articulated trucks have also risen – from 15.4 to 15.6 years and from 10.7 years to 11.4 years respectively.

Of the 329,464 heavy rigid trucks registered for use in Australia, some 43.5 per cent were manufactured in or before 1998. Only 60,882, or 18 per cent, were manufactured in the last five years.