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The Growth of Road Haulage, 1921–58

There is virtually no published statistical evidence covering the growth of the road haulage industry prior to the 1950s (by which time road haulage had effectively displaced the railways as Britain's most important conveyor of goods traffic). This article assembles and examines data on the growth of road goods traffic from 1921 to 1939 and reviews Ministry of Transport data covering the post-war period up to 1958. They reveal that the road haulage industry experienced extremely rapid growth from 1921 to 1933, subsequent expansion being impeded by the introduction of a restrictive licensing system in 1933. However, the subsequent rate of displacement of rail haulage by road transport was still considerable, the legislation providing the railways with only limited protection