Freight Insights
Empty Kilometres, Fuel and Emissions: Reading the UK 2024 Figures
UK statistics recorded 5,843 million empty HGV kilometres in 2024 — 30% of total HGV distance. Those kilometres still burn fuel and create emissions without moving goods.
Published 15 August 2026
Kilometres driven without a load still consume fuel and produce emissions — the truck's engine does not know the trailer is empty.
The UK 2024 figures
According to the UK Department for Transport, HGVs in the UK recorded 5,843 million empty kilometres in 2024, accounting for 30% of total HGV vehicle kilometres that year. This is UK domestic data and should be read as an international benchmark, not a Malaysian figure — there is no equivalent published Malaysian statistic to compare it against directly.
Why the underlying mechanics travel regardless of geography
The relationship between empty running and fuel use, tolls and emissions is not unique to the UK. Any lorry running a return leg without freight is burning fuel and generating emissions for a trip that produces no economic output — that dynamic exists wherever road freight operates, West Malaysia included.
What reducing empty kilometres actually requires
Cutting empty running is not about driving less — the lorry still needs to get back. It is about matching more of those return legs with a load that was travelling in the same direction anyway, so the trip that was already happening also carries freight.
Source: UK Department for Transport, Domestic Road Freight Statistics 2024.