Land transport and transport via pipelines (SIC division 49)
Division 49 of the UK SIC 2007 list. It holds 7 codes, listed in full below with the number of active UK companies filed under each.
What sits in division 49
Division 49 moves goods and people by road and rail. Road freight dominates it. Code 49410 is the standard choice for hauliers, from a one-truck owner-driver up to a national fleet. Passenger work splits in two. Taxi and private hire operators use 49320. Coaches, minibuses, chauffeur services and the rest use 49390. Removal firms have their own code, 49420. Pipeline transport belongs in this division too, though in practice the public record is full of vehicles rather than pipes. The code a company picks usually matches what is parked in its yard.
Transport operators buy heavily and buy again every year. That is why fuel card providers, commercial vehicle finance and leasing brokers, telematics vendors and specialist haulage insurers work this division hard. Recruiters supplying drivers and transport managers sell here too, alongside operator licence compliance consultants. A new 49410 company often comes just before an operator licence application and a vehicle purchase. Timing matters. Reaching a haulier in its first weeks beats arriving later. Growth in filed accounts usually means more vehicles, and more vehicles mean bigger policies, more fuel and more drivers.
How to read a division 49 code
A UK SIC code is five digits and division 49 is the first two of them. Everything filed under 49 shares those digits: all 7 codes below begin 49, then the third digit narrows to a group, the fourth to a class and the fifth to the subclass a company actually picks. Division 49 sits inside section H, transportation and storage, which is the broadest tier of the classification. So a code is read left to right, from an industry down to a specific activity.
More on how division 49 codes are built
Companies choose their own codes at incorporation and can change them on any confirmation statement, and Companies House does not check the answer. A company may list up to four. That is worth knowing before you treat any division total as a headcount: the numbers here are what companies said about themselves, on the August 2026 register, and the largest single code in this division is 49410, freight transport by road.
Working division 49 as a list
Division 49 holds 7 codes and 102,625 active companies between them. One code carries most of it: 49410 accounts for 62 per cent on its own, and the top three take 90 per cent, with the rest spread across the remaining 4 codes. Filtering by the whole division is therefore close to filtering by 49410 with a tail attached, so start from the code and widen only if the list runs dry.
More on working division 49
A caveat that matters more in some divisions than others: a company may register up to four SIC codes, and the figures below count every position, not just the first. A business filed under two codes in this division appears under both. Treat the totals as reach rather than a headcount, and if you need a clean list, filter to companies whose FIRST code sits in the division. Every company you pull carries the Companies House record, the director's name, a verified website and a verified email, and the ones we cannot complete are not charged.
Every SIC code in division 49
49100, Passenger rail transport, interurban49200, Freight rail transport49319, Other urban, suburban or metropolitan passenger land transport (not underground, metro or similar)49320, Taxi operation49390, Other passenger land transport49410, Freight transport by road49420, Removal servicesProspecting this division
Division 49 companies, as leads
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Division 49 questions
Which SIC code should a taxi or private hire driver's limited company use?
Use 49320, taxi operation. It is the standard choice and covers private hire as well as hackney carriage work. Chauffeur services, minibuses and other passenger transport that does not fit the taxi model sit under 49390. You select the code yourself when you incorporate. You can change it on any confirmation statement. Companies House does not need to approve it.
Does a courier business belong in 49410 or division 53?
General haulage of goods by road is 49410. That usually means pallets and full or part loads. Parcel and same-day courier work normally sits in division 53, most often under 53202. The line is blurry and nobody polices it. Pick the code closest to your core activity. You can hold both if the business genuinely does both.
Find companies across division 49
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