National fleet: light trucks lead growth

According to data just released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, light rigid trucks are outpacing the growth of any other type of vehicle on Australian roads by a significant margin.

The latest ABS Motor Vehicle Census, which compiles data taken over 12 months to January 31, 2019, shows that light trucks grew in number on our roads by 5.7 per cent, while the total national fleet – comprising passenger cars, RVs, LCVs, buses, motorcycles, non-freight-carrying vehicles and trucks (light rigid, heavy rigid and articulated) increased by 1.7 per cent, to a total of 19.5 million vehicles.

In comparison, articulated trucks grew by 2.3 per cent, heavy rigid trucks by 2.0 per cent and LCVs (vans and utes) by 4.0 per cent, while passenger cars grew by just 1.2 per cent.

The national fleet grew in all Australian states and territories bar the Northern Territory, where it contracted by 0.5 per cent. The largest growth was recorded in Tasmania – 2.6 per cent.

All up, there are now 166,972 light rigid trucks on our roads, plus 353,759 heavy rigid trucks and 103,038 articulated trucks, along with 99,379 buses and 3,313,418 LCVs, compared to 14,504,148 passenger cars and 870,105 motorcycles.

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Diesel-powered vehicles – led by commercial vehicles, utes and 4WDs – recorded growth of 1.2 per cent to make up 24.6 per cent of the national fleet, while the number of petrol-powered vehicles fell 1.0 per cent. Petrol vehicles now make up 73.6 per cent of the national fleet, in a market where electric vehicles are still yet to have any major impact.

The average age of vehicles of all categories on the road in Australia has increased to 10.2 years, with the oldest by jurisdiction being 12.9 years in Tasmania and the youngest being 9.4 years in the ACT.

For commercial vehicles, the average age of LCVs in this country now stands at 10.5 years, with light rigid trucks at 11.0 years, heavy rigid trucks at 15.6 years, articulated trucks at 11.8 years and buses at 11.6 years.