Freight transport: road haulage activity
How much freight actually moves on French roads, and is that amount changing? This page tracks the quarterly activity of domestic road freight carried by vehicles registered in France, measured in tonne-kilometres. It is the physical denominator of freight electrification: what will have to be moved differently, and whose volume is not falling.
Quarterly activity since 2014
Each bar is one quarter; the line sums the last four to smooth residual noise. The vertical axis does not start at zero: the series moves by a few percent around 41,000 Mt-km, and a zero-based axis would flatten every variation.
View data
| Quarter | Activity (Mt-km) | Year on year | Four-quarter total (Mt-km) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-T1 | 40,028 | — | — |
| 2014-T2 | 39,571 | — | — |
| 2014-T3 | 40,304 | — | — |
| 2014-T4 | 39,203 | — | 159,105 |
| 2015-T1 | 37,918 | -5.3 % | 156,995 |
| 2015-T2 | 38,174 | -3.5 % | 155,599 |
| 2015-T3 | 36,954 | -8.3 % | 152,249 |
| 2015-T4 | 37,642 | -4 % | 150,688 |
| 2016-T1 | 37,969 | +0.1 % | 150,739 |
| 2016-T2 | 38,043 | -0.3 % | 150,608 |
| 2016-T3 | 38,025 | +2.9 % | 151,679 |
| 2016-T4 | 38,465 | +2.2 % | 152,502 |
| 2017-T1 | 39,410 | +3.8 % | 153,943 |
| 2017-T2 | 40,263 | +5.8 % | 156,163 |
| 2017-T3 | 40,062 | +5.4 % | 158,201 |
| 2017-T4 | 41,946 | +9.1 % | 161,682 |
| 2018-T1 | 42,112 | +6.9 % | 164,384 |
| 2018-T2 | 42,242 | +4.9 % | 166,362 |
| 2018-T3 | 39,028 | -2.6 % | 165,328 |
| 2018-T4 | 40,723 | -2.9 % | 164,105 |
| 2019-T1 | 42,173 | +0.1 % | 164,165 |
| 2019-T2 | 42,039 | -0.5 % | 163,962 |
| 2019-T3 | 42,023 | +7.7 % | 166,957 |
| 2019-T4 | 42,300 | +3.9 % | 168,534 |
| 2020-T1 | 41,137 | -2.5 % | 167,498 |
| 2020-T2 | 36,595 | -13 % | 162,055 |
| 2020-T3 | 43,009 | +2.4 % | 163,041 |
| 2020-T4 | 41,562 | -1.7 % | 162,303 |
| 2021-T1 | 42,325 | +2.9 % | 163,492 |
| 2021-T2 | 42,179 | +15.3 % | 169,076 |
| 2021-T3 | 41,734 | -3 % | 167,800 |
| 2021-T4 | 41,534 | -0.1 % | 167,772 |
| 2022-T1 | 41,328 | -2.4 % | 166,774 |
| 2022-T2 | 42,189 | +0 % | 166,784 |
| 2022-T3 | 41,278 | -1.1 % | 166,328 |
| 2022-T4 | 43,864 | +5.6 % | 168,658 |
| 2023-T1 | 41,954 | +1.5 % | 169,285 |
| 2023-T2 | 40,668 | -3.6 % | 167,764 |
| 2023-T3 | 40,553 | -1.8 % | 167,039 |
| 2023-T4 | 40,861 | -6.9 % | 164,036 |
| 2024-T1 | 42,325 | +0.9 % | 164,407 |
| 2024-T2 | 41,793 | +2.8 % | 165,532 |
| 2024-T3 | 42,372 | +4.5 % | 167,351 |
| 2024-T4 | 42,128 | +3.1 % | 168,617 |
| 2025-T1 | 41,868 | -1.1 % | 168,160 |
| 2025-T2 | 42,080 | +0.7 % | 168,447 |
| 2025-T3 | 41,419 | -2.3 % | 167,495 |
| 2025-T4 | 41,857 | -0.6 % | 167,224 |
| 2026-T1 | 41,403 | -1.1 % | 166,760 |
Three ways to split the same total
SDES publishes three breakdowns of the same total: by who carries the freight, by whether the trip stays in France, and by distance. They describe the same volume from three angles — they do not add up to one another.
View data
| Quarter | Hire and reward | Own account |
|---|---|---|
| 2014-T1 | 34,462 | 5,566 |
| 2014-T2 | 34,094 | 5,476 |
| 2014-T3 | 34,731 | 5,572 |
| 2014-T4 | 33,633 | 5,570 |
| 2015-T1 | 32,768 | 5,149 |
| 2015-T2 | 32,829 | 5,345 |
| 2015-T3 | 31,795 | 5,159 |
| 2015-T4 | 32,054 | 5,589 |
| 2016-T1 | 32,203 | 5,766 |
| 2016-T2 | 32,198 | 5,845 |
| 2016-T3 | 32,829 | 5,196 |
| 2016-T4 | 33,140 | 5,326 |
| 2017-T1 | 34,170 | 5,241 |
| 2017-T2 | 34,982 | 5,282 |
| 2017-T3 | 34,525 | 5,537 |
| 2017-T4 | 36,555 | 5,391 |
| 2018-T1 | 36,642 | 5,470 |
| 2018-T2 | 36,346 | 5,896 |
| 2018-T3 | 33,559 | 5,469 |
| 2018-T4 | 35,619 | 5,104 |
| 2019-T1 | 37,179 | 4,993 |
| 2019-T2 | 36,133 | 5,905 |
| 2019-T3 | 36,902 | 5,121 |
| 2019-T4 | 36,969 | 5,331 |
| 2020-T1 | 36,114 | 5,023 |
| 2020-T2 | 31,504 | 5,091 |
| 2020-T3 | 37,480 | 5,528 |
| 2020-T4 | 36,413 | 5,149 |
| 2021-T1 | 36,543 | 5,782 |
| 2021-T2 | 36,801 | 5,378 |
| 2021-T3 | 36,977 | 4,757 |
| 2021-T4 | 36,655 | 4,878 |
| 2022-T1 | 36,420 | 4,908 |
| 2022-T2 | 36,691 | 5,498 |
| 2022-T3 | 36,196 | 5,081 |
| 2022-T4 | 38,726 | 5,137 |
| 2023-T1 | 36,705 | 5,249 |
| 2023-T2 | 35,777 | 4,891 |
| 2023-T3 | 36,110 | 4,443 |
| 2023-T4 | 36,395 | 4,466 |
| 2024-T1 | 37,784 | 4,541 |
| 2024-T2 | 36,577 | 5,216 |
| 2024-T3 | 37,838 | 4,533 |
| 2024-T4 | 37,745 | 4,382 |
| 2025-T1 | 37,372 | 4,496 |
| 2025-T2 | 37,276 | 4,804 |
| 2025-T3 | 37,120 | 4,299 |
| 2025-T4 | 37,507 | 4,350 |
| 2026-T1 | 37,524 | 3,880 |
Scope and caveats
- French-registered vehicles only: freight carried on French territory by foreign hauliers (cabotage, transit) is out of scope, so road freight activity observed in France is higher than these figures.
- Seasonally and working-day adjusted data: two quarters are directly comparable, but the values differ from raw volumes.
- The most recent quarters are provisional and revised with each edition. Because the source workbook republishes the whole series back to 2014, an update can change already-published points.
- This source says nothing about vehicle powertrains: it measures activity, not a fleet. Freight electrification is covered on the registrations and heavy-truck charging pages.
Source: Source : SDES, enquête TRM – données provisoires, 25 juin 2026. Latest quarter covered: 2026-T1. SDES publication · data workbook (xlsx)
Road, rail, inland waterway: who carries the freight?
The previous section asks how much freight moves; this one asks by which mode. The scope changes: modal shares cover tonne-kilometres performed on French territory by all operators and all flags, whereas the TRM survey above covers French-registered vehicles only. The two series cannot be added together or compared term by term.
View data
| Year | Road | Rail | Inland waterway | All modes (bn t-km) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 86.8 % | 10.4 % | 2.8 % | 313.8 |
| 2015 | 85.7 % | 11.6 % | 2.7 % | 312.9 |
| 2016 | 86.6 % | 10.9 % | 2.6 % | 320 |
| 2017 | 87.2 % | 10.6 % | 2.2 % | 336.4 |
| 2018 | 87.8 % | 10.1 % | 2.2 % | 335.9 |
| 2019 | 87.8 % | 9.9 % | 2.3 % | 348.3 |
| 2020 | 88.3 % | 9.6 % | 2.1 % | 334.2 |
| 2021 | 87.4 % | 10.6 % | 2.1 % | 348.6 |
| 2022 | 87.6 % | 10.5 % | 1.9 % | 345.3 |
| 2023 | 89.1 % | 9.2 % | 1.8 % | 331.6 |
| 2024 | 88.8 % | 9.5 % | 1.8 % | 344 |
Table E1.b1 of the SDES workbook — “Parts modales du transport terrestre de marchandises (hors oléoducs, yc transit)”.
What the survey overhaul changed
The workbook publishes 2014 to 2018 twice: once under the earlier methodology, once recalculated after the TRM survey overhaul introduced in 2020. The values differ. Rather than splicing the two series — which would produce figures that exist nowhere — here is the gap between them, mode by mode.
View data
| Year | Road — earlier methodology | Road — current methodology | Road — gap | Rail — earlier methodology | Rail — current methodology | Rail — gap | Inland waterway — earlier methodology | Inland waterway — current methodology | Inland waterway — gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 87.46 % | 86.82 % | -0.64 pt | 9.88 % | 10.39 % | +0.51 pt | 2.66 % | 2.79 % | +0.13 pt |
| 2015 | 86.29 % | 85.68 % | -0.61 pt | 11.12 % | 11.61 % | +0.49 pt | 2.6 % | 2.71 % | +0.11 pt |
| 2016 | 87.04 % | 86.55 % | -0.49 pt | 10.45 % | 10.85 % | +0.4 pt | 2.5 % | 2.6 % | +0.1 pt |
| 2017 | 87.76 % | 87.22 % | -0.54 pt | 10.1 % | 10.55 % | +0.45 pt | 2.14 % | 2.23 % | +0.09 pt |
| 2018 | 88.53 % | 87.76 % | -0.77 pt | 9.44 % | 10.08 % | +0.64 pt | 2.02 % | 2.16 % | +0.14 pt |
Scope of the modal shares
- Tonne-kilometres performed on French territory, transit included, all flags — a different scope from the TRM survey shown earlier on this page.
- The table used here excludes pipelines, which move products without vehicles; the variant including them is in the exportable data. Sea and air are not inland modes and are out of scope.
- The two methodological series are never spliced: the selector switches series, it does not extend one curve.
Source: SDES — Bilan annuel des transports, chapitre E, feuille « E1.b » (« Parts modales du transport terrestre de marchandises »). Latest year covered: 2024.