HGV road freight: carbon footprint per tonne-km
Live factor value
0.10356 kgCO2e per tonne-km
Source: UK DESNZ greenhouse-gas conversion factors, 2026 (revision 2). Factor set desnz-2026-r2.
Heavy goods vehicles move most UK domestic freight, and the official DESNZ 2026 factor for an average laden HGV — shown live below per tonne-kilometre — is the standard figure for road freight when the vehicle class is unknown. One tonne-km means one tonne of goods moved one kilometre.
Articulated HGVs running full are markedly more efficient per tonne-km than rigid trucks or vans, which is why consolidating loads matters: the same pallet in a full artic can have a third of the footprint it would have travelling in a half-empty van.
Worked example
A 1-tonne pallet moved 500 km (500 tonne-km): 500 × 0.10356 = 51.8 kgCO2e.
Measure your own with the free freight calculator.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a tonne-kilometre?
- The standard freight unit: one tonne of goods moved one kilometre. Multiply your shipment's tonnes by its kilometres, then by the factor on this page.
- How does road freight compare with rail and sea?
- Per tonne-km, rail freight is several times lower than average HGV, and container shipping lower still — air freight is one to two orders of magnitude higher than all of them.