Freight demand is not published anywhere in one number. Demand Signals collects the public indicators that bear on it, links each to its source, and is explicit that an indicator is not a job.
What it tracks
- Fuel prices. The government Fuel Finder service lists UK forecourts with the prices they report, and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero publishes weekly national average pump prices going back years. Together they show cost pressure on haulage.
- Port freight statistics. DfT annual tonnage by port and direction, as a baseline for where freight volume sits.
- Trade statistics. HMRC UK Trade Info data on goods moving in and out of the country.
- Public contracts. Notices from Contracts Finder and Find a Tender, the government procurement services. We store notice metadata only.
- Planning applications. Planning Data records of development that can generate freight movements.
- Roadworks. Street Manager and Traffic Wales, which change which corridors can carry work.
How signals are treated
A signal is inferred from this evidence and stored with links back to what it was inferred from. It is labelled inferred, and it is never presented as a bookable load. Signals are currently an operator-side tool and are not yet shown to drivers in the app.
What it is not
- Not a forecast of freight volumes. Nothing here predicts next week’s market.
- Not a load list. A rising indicator does not mean a job exists.
- Not contract pricing. Forecourt prices are retail pump prices as reported, not fuel card or bunker rates, and a station’s register entry does not confirm HGV access.
Data honesty
Each source is labelled with where it came from and how fresh it is. Sources and licences are on the data sources page.