The amount of goods transported by road has more than doubled over the last decade, it emerged today.
Statistics revealed over 259 million tonnes of goods were delivered by road last year, a 221 per cent rise over the last 10 years.
The national Freight Transport survey for 2003 carried out by the Central Statistics Office showed the distance travelled by the vehicles had also increased substantially.
Road drivers covered 2,214 million kilometres last year, a rise of almost 8 per cent on 2002, while making around 21 million loaded journeys.
Mr Jimmy Quinn of the Irish Road Haulage Association said: "This shows we need a really efficient transport routes to cope with that kind of growth.
"The industry is probably the purest form of industry as many people can get involved for the price of a second-hand car. There are minimum controls and all people need are insurance, tax and licences," he said
There were over 80,000 Irish registered goods vehicles licensed to operate which had steadily risen from around 30,000 in 1993. "That is broad as it includes everything from a 3.5 tonne van to a 44 tonne arctic," Mr Quinn said.
Almost half of the total weight of goods carried in 2003 were transported on journeys of 25 kilometres or less.
Mr Quinn said that all of the hauliers were busy at the moment and shipping companies had reported a high number of goods vehicles on their routes.
He added: "The capacity is high in the ninties, per cent wise, but by and large we are happy, the oil crisis is the only downside."
PA