UK transport, haulage and storage companies in numbers (October 2026)
Key figures compared with the UK
| Measure | This sector | All UK | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active companies | 131,767 | 5,166,057 | 2.6% of UK |
| Median company age (years) | 4.1 | 5.6 | 27% lower |
| Incorporated in the last 3 years | 42.4% | 34.0% | 8.4 pts higher |
| Filing micro-entity accounts | 33.9% | 32.4% | close to UK |
| Filing dormant accounts | 6.8% | 10.8% | 4.0 pts lower |
| Accounts overdue | 1.8% | 1.8% | close to UK |
| Under a proposal to strike off | 13.9% | 7.4% | 6.5 pts higher |
| In liquidation, administration or receivership | 1.7% | 2.0% | 0.3 pts lower |
| With outstanding charges (secured lending) | 7.4% | 12.1% | 4.7 pts lower |
| Median net assets | £2,466 | £3,113 | 21% lower |
| Negative net assets | 18.3% | 18.8% | close to UK |
| Net current liabilities | 36.7% | 36.2% | close to UK |
| Median cash at bank | £7,511 | £10k | 26% lower |
| Cash covers creditors due within a year | 38.5% | 35.3% | close to UK |
| Holding £100k or more in cash | 19.3% | 20.3% | close to UK |
| Median employees (where stated) | 1 | 1 | close to UK |
Balance sheet measures use each active company's most recent machine-readable (iXBRL) accounts with a period ending in 2024 or later: 87,969 companies here (66.8% of active). Net assets 25th to 75th percentile: £1 to £26k. Cash 25th to 75th percentile: £694 to £57k.
What the numbers say
Transport and storage is a sector of many very small operators, and the register shows it.
The strike-off rate is the most striking figure: 13.9% of live companies are under a proposal to strike off, nearly double the UK's 7.4% (see strike-off data). The largest codes are 49410 freight transport by road (68,731 live companies) and 49320 taxi operation (20,263). Many are likely one-vehicle companies run by an owner-driver, which are quick to set up and are often abandoned rather than formally closed when the driver moves on. New entry is surging: 20,700 of today's active companies were incorporated in 2025, against 11,895 in 2024, and 42.4% are less than three years old.
Balance sheets are lighter than average. Median net assets are £2,466 and median cash £7,511, both about a fifth to a quarter below the UK figures, and only 19.3% hold £100k or more in cash. Only 7.4% have outstanding charges, against 12.1%. Vehicles are commonly bought on hire purchase or leased, and those agreements do not always appear as charges at Companies House, which may partly explain the gap. Creditors due within a year are also small (median £7,578 against £13,788), so cash still covers them at 38.5% of companies.
Negative net assets (18.3%) are close to the UK level (18.8%). The trend dipped in the middle: 17.9% for financial years ending in 2014, 14.0% in 2018 and 18.5% in 2025, against 18.6% for the UK. A negative figure is a warning sign, not proof of insolvency (negative net assets).
If you use subcontracted hauliers or couriers, check the company first. Compare with wholesale and retail and hospitality, which has a similar churn profile.
Share with negative net assets, 2014 to 2025
Share of accounts with net liabilities (total liabilities larger than total assets) by financial year end, for companies on the live register. Dissolved companies are not included because the register no longer lists their industry, so earlier years show survivors. Negative net assets is a warning sign, not proof of insolvency: see what negative net assets means.
Accounts types filed
| Type of last accounts | Share here | Share UK |
|---|---|---|
| Micro-entity | 33.9% | 32.4% |
| No accounts filed yet | 30.6% | 26.0% |
| Total exemption full | 21.4% | 23.8% |
| Dormant | 6.8% | 10.8% |
| Unaudited abridged | 3.8% | 2.9% |
| Full (audited) | 1.3% | 1.5% |
| Small | 1.2% | 1.2% |
The type shows how much a company has to disclose. Micro-entity and abridged accounts contain no profit and loss account on the public record. Read more about accounts categories and micro-entities.
Active companies by year of incorporation
Companies incorporated in each year that are still active today. Younger cohorts are larger partly because older ones have been dissolved.
Most common activity codes
| SIC | Activity | Live companies |
|---|---|---|
| 49410 | Freight transport by road | 68,731 |
| 49320 | Taxi operation | 20,263 |
| 52290 | Other transportation support activities | 15,824 |
| 49390 | Other passenger land transport | 8,414 |
| 53202 | Unlicensed carrier | 8,027 |
| 52103 | Operation of warehousing and storage facilities for land transport activities | 6,312 |
| 49420 | Removal services | 5,443 |
| 53201 | Licensed carriers | 3,119 |
Divisions in this section
| Division | Active companies | Negative net assets | Median cash | Overdue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 49 Land transport and transport via pipelines | 88,547 | 17.8% | £6,287 | 1.6% |
| 52 Warehousing and support activities for transportation | 26,642 | 18.3% | £13k | 2.0% |
| 53 Postal and courier activities | 10,201 | 20.3% | £5,494 | 1.7% |
| 50 Water transport | 3,467 | 22.0% | £24k | 4.2% |
| 51 Air transport | 2,910 | 24.2% | £17k | 3.7% |
Methodology
Industry is the first SIC code each company declares on the Companies House register (snapshot 1 October 2026); the dormant placeholder 99999 is excluded. Status, accounts type and due dates come from the register. Financial measures come from our parse of 37 million iXBRL accounts filed since 2008; values above £100bn are treated as extraction errors. Companies filing paper or PDF accounts are not in the balance sheet figures. Full details: methodology.
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