Capacity, Pricing & Technology: 2020 European Road Transportation Survey
Transport service providers are facing tremendous challenges in 2020. This abbreviated statement confirms the result of this year’s survey of more than 1,200 European freight forwarders. While 67% of the surveyed forwarders reported increased turnover in 2019, only half that amount (32%) expect business revenues to grow in 2020. In fact, 38% of service providers expect a decline in turnover for the current year. By way of comparison: Looking back on 2019, only 10% of the companies recorded declining revenues.
The actual extent of the losses at the end of the year will depend on how quickly the economy recovers from the restrictions of recent months, whether new waves of infection can be contained, and the shutdown measures further eased.
Current events have also changed the assessment of freight forwarders with regard to the most relevant factors influencing the transport market: COVID-19 and the current economic situation will dominate the daily life of freight forwarders in 2020, while the shortage of drivers and the developments in commodity prices, which were the determining factors in the years 2017-2019, will move into the background this year (see chart p. 13).
It remains exciting to see how transport capacities will develop further. About 77% of those surveyed are experiencing a decline in transport volumes due to COVID-19, which is obviously having an impact on transport capacities. Almost 30% of the forwarders surveyed currently see more free capacities on the market due to the COVID-19 crisis. This trend is confirmed by the Transport Market Monitor, which recorded a historic high in capacities in spring 2020. Transport prices remain at a correspondingly low level during the same period (see www.transportmarketmonitor.com). The freight forwarders are reacting to this development: only 28% are planning to increase their transport capacities in 2020. In 2019 the figure was still 46%.
In this report we would like to present these and other results of the most comprehensive survey of European freight forwarders, classify them and help you to know, understand and master the current challenges in the transport market.
Check out the full report using this link.