A company which runs a fleet of vans has spent the first week of July highlighting the importance of vans to the UK’s economy – and the nation as a whole – by launching its ‘Value the Van’ campaign, designed to show how van use is now integral to how we live and work.
Vans play a crucial role in moving the goods and services used by everyone across the UK, with traffic in the East Midlands accounting for 62% of business vans operating alone – assisting the economy to operate as effectively as possible. They are small enough to access our towns and cities, but have the range to undertake longer distance journeys, bringing vital items to those that need them, whether the load be medicine or a priceless artwork.
Denise Beedell, Senior Policy Manager at Logistics UK said: “In addition to grocery and parcel deliveries, vans are used for everything from equipping festivals to transporting art and museum artefacts, carrying the tools needed by utility services and construction, delivering medical supplies and even supplying the nation's ice cream throughout summer. While the importance of the humble van can often be overlooked, Logistics UK’s Value the Van campaign is aimed at raise awareness and appreciation of the role vans – and van drivers – play in our everyday lives, and how they are now integral to the way we work, live and play.
“Figures from the Department for Transport (DfT) indicate that in 2022, there were 4.63 million licensed vans on GB’s roads, with “carrying equipment, tools and materials” the most common primary usage, followed by “delivery/collection of goods”.
The DfT’s van survey in 2019 reported that 3.8 million vans surveyed covered a staggering total annual mileage of 48.3 billion vehicle miles – more than 202,000 times the distance to the Moon and back! With the vast majority of vans travelling locally or regionally on a typical day, it is clear that they are used to power every part of the UK’s economy, whether serving homes, businesses, hospitals or schools, and as the economy continues to recover from the Covid pandemic, there has never been a better time for the nation to Value the Van.”