Statistics on empty miles in the UK and EU

Major initiatives are needed to tackle stalling progress on reducing the number of lorries running empty in the UK, according to research by IPP.

Figures analysed by IPP reveal efforts to tackle empty miles or empty running – the environmentally-harmful process where a truck returns from a delivery with an empty load – are flatlining in the UK.

Empty running: UK vs. EU

Statistics published by the Department for Transport from the last three full years (2022, 2023 and 2024) and analysed by IPP show that one in three kilometres travelled by UK lorries involves an empty vehicle, compared to equivalent data published by Eurostat which shows an average of one in four in Europe.

Overall empty running rates sit at 30 per cent across the same time period and are not reducing, with a staggering 57.9 bn kilometres driven by empty vehicles in the UK in that time.

That’s equivalent to approximately 1.45 million trips around the Earth's equator at 40,075 km per trip.

Source: Department for Transport

What are the causes of empty miles?

Alia Tabbassum, strategic logistics manager at IPP UK&I, explained: “The reasons for progress flatlining is because in the UK, we are heading towards the US system where everyone wants something straight away – think of Amazon and their same-day orders. We’re increasingly seeing the same with HGVs.

“Both customers and retailers can be very demanding when it comes to return logistics, often imposing restrictions around delivery times, vehicle types, load sizes and waiting times.

“These measures are usually intended to minimise their own resource requirements and costs on an activity that doesn’t directly generate profit – even though it does indirectly.

“However, such restrictions often create an environment of inflexibility and inefficiency, which in turn are the very factors that prevent vehicles from running as full and therefore contributing to empty running.”

How to reduce empty return loads in the UK

At IPP, we believe the UK should be going much further to tackle the issue of empty miles rather than relying on a small number of businesses to take action.

Alia said: “I’ve been in the industry for 20 years plus and while governments acknowledge the problem of empty running, we never see initiatives to try and reduce it.

“We need a sustained campaign from our governments to tackle this issue because circular businesses like IPP can’t tackle it on their own.”

Stricter regulations

In Europe, the situation is very different, with larger logistics networks aligned to stricter regulations for drivers.

Alia said: “Europe has larger freight networks and a better network of freight forwarders.

“When you look at somewhere like Denmark, which is the leading European nation in cutting empty running, they have a better road management system, a better road network and a better use of smart technologies.”

Alternative fuels

Another option to cut carbon emissions is HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) – a renewable, fossil-free diesel alternative which can be produced from waste cooking oil, animal fats or non-food crops.

Alia added: “HVO requires no cost in adapting vehicles, but without government support, companies simply won’t do it as it currently costs between 15 and 18 per cent more than diesel.

“HVO is a simple and effective way to cut carbon emissions by around 85 per cent but if there is no push from governments or grants made available, it won’t happen.”

Increase collaboration

IPP collaborates closely with its customers to reduce empty running, by analysing where they are delivering freight and how it can support them.

One such example is Salisbury Poultry, a West Midlands-based supplier of fresh and frozen poultry.

By enabling it to backfill return legs, IPP has helped Salisbury Poultry cut 46,086 unnecessary miles and 78 tonnes of unnecessary Co2 emissions from its supply chain since the collaboration began in July 2023.

Manoj Chohan, from Salisbury Poultry, said: “When we deliver our products to the retailers, we work with IPP to collect empty pallets from the same delivery location and return them to Salisbury Poultry.

“We then re-use those pallets for future customer deliveries. This means there is no empty mileage on any of these delivery runs.”

What is IPP doing to reduce empty miles?

IPP is working to reduce empty transport miles as part of our commitment to sustainability and lowering our environmental impact.

To achieve this, we are actively engaging with customers and retailers to identify empty running and collaborating with them to offer efficient backload solutions.

By reducing empty journeys, we are achieving measurable CO₂ emissions savings which contribute to IPP’s overall carbon reduction goals.

By collaborating with customers to backfill empty legs of journeys, IPP has already taken 4.5 million unnecessary miles out of UK supply chains over the same three-year period, saving 7,634 tonnes of unnecessary carbon emissions.

That’s equivalent to more than 1,700 round trip flights from London to New York.

Learn more about our collaborative logistics solutions.

Key takeaways on empty running in the UK 

·        One in three kilometres travelled by UK lorries involves an empty vehicle, compared to an average of one in four in Europe

·        Progress on reducing empty running has stalled – figures have remained at 30 per cent for the last three years

·        During that time, 57.9 bn kilometres were driven by empty vehicles in the UK

Learn about sustainability at IPP, or find out more about our sustainable wooden pallets.