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Freight: Insolvency

Asked by Dr Al PinkertonLiberal DemocratDepartment for Business and TradeTabled Answered 3 February 2026UIN 108997

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment has been made of how recent levels of insolvencies in the UK road haulage sector compare with those during the 2008 financial crisis.

Answered by Blair McDougall

There has been a change to industry classifications between these two periods, but the statistics are broadly comparable. Estimated numbers of companies with the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 2003 code 49410 (Freight transport by road) and SIC 2007 code 6024 (Freight transport by road) that entered insolvency in the UK in calendar years 2008 to 2011 and 2022 to 2025 are presented in the tables below.

Calendar Year

Companies Entering Insolvency (SIC 2003 Code 49410 – Freight Transport by Road and SIC 2007 Code 6024 - Freight Transport by Road)

2008

412

2009

442

2010

331

2011

351

Calendar Year

Companies Entering Insolvency (SIC 2007 Code 6024 - Freight Transport by Road)

2022

411

2023

503

2024

471

2025

401

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