“Tariff increases in the transport world inevitable”

“Without increases in tariffs you’re dead,” was a headline this week in Nieuwsblad Transport. This statement was made by Ferenc Laijko, top man of the large Hungarian transport company Waberer. Currently, we hear and read such strong statements on an almost daily basis, and unfortunately they are very understandable.

The story also relates that Waberer recently presented their half-yearly figures. These show that, despite an increase in turnover, the company had been confronted with a 14.5% decrease in profits, thos being caused principally by the increases in fuel and personnel costs. Waberer recently increased their tariffs, and Laijko advises every company in the transport world to do the same. “Companies that do not dare to raise their prices cannot survive,” says the Hungarian top man.

Everyone in the transport business is being confronted with this reality. The most recent edition of the Transport Market Monitor (TMM) shows that the price index for the sector in the second quarter of this year was 17.2% higher than that of then first quarter. In addition to the fuel prices already mentioned and the pressure in personnel costs as the result of a terribly tight labour market, the scarcity of the availability in transport capacity is also driving prices sharply upwards. According to Transporeon, joint publisher of the Transport Market Monitor, this capacity is at a historically low level.

Recently, Van Duuren’s Eric de Wit also wrote a column about these developments. Eric states, among other things: “The fact that the whole economy is dynamic means that our industry is competing with all other industries to acquire personnel, and becoming a truck driver is not an attractive perspective for most young people. As a result, drivers’ pay, just as fuel costs, toll roads, insurance costs and weekend costs are increasing.”

In short: these are very challenging times for companies in the transport sector. It goes without saying that we at Van Duuren continue to do our best to provide our clients with optimum service. And as far as we are concerned, a good relationship also goes with transparency and clear communications. That is why we believe it is important not only to keep our clients informed of developments within our own organization, but also of trends that have a major impact on our sector, such as the developments described above.