The number of journeys that were completed "on time" on Highways Agency-managed roads declined last year, new figures have confirmed.

Provisional data released by the Department for Transport showed that 81.6 per cent of trips were made within an acceptable timeframe in the year ending December 2012. This was 0.3 per cent lower than 2011.

The report also indicated that just 74.6 per cent of journeys were completed in the expected amount of time in December, which was 4.5 per cent down on the corresponding month in 2011.

These figures were matched exactly when only taking motorways and A roads into account.

Clearly, levels of congestion have risen on the UK's roads in the past year, which is obviously bad news for logistics organisations.

The poor performance in December 2012 was no doubt partially down to the persistent heavy rain that hit the country throughout the month.

Excessive traffic is a nightmare for hauliers, as a recent study conducted by Inrix and the Centre for Economics and Business Research showed the annual cost of congestion is around £4.3 billion.