Day: 15 July 2020

Transporeon has presented the results of European Road Carrier survey: Findings point up an urgent need for digital investment amidst pandemic gloom.

Highlights include:

• Nearly half of all European road carriers expect falling transport prices in 2020, almost 40% expect an overall decline in business; Market participants increasingly recognise benefit of spot market activity as part of the business mix; Urgent need for improved environmental data: 43% of carriers are unable to calculate their own CO2 emissions.

As European countries emerge from lockdown, road transport companies across the continent are expecting to feel the impact of the global pandemic for many months to come. While nearly 70% of carriers reported business growth for 2019, less than a third expect a positive development in 2020.

Whereas in 2019, almost 70% of respondents expected transport prices to go up, this year little more than 20% of participants said they expected to see any price increase.

Carriers make increasingly use of spot market transports

“Although the global outlook is very subdued, we do see that market players are taking positive action to adjust, especially through the possibilities of digital platform technology,” commented Thomas Einsiedler, Chief Product Officer at Transporeon. “The results show that almost all carriers recognize the benefit of mixing long-term contracts with spot market activity. While 8% of carriers in 2019 relied exclusively on long-term contracts, that figure has fallen to 4% this year.”

“By using the spot market alongside long-term contracted transports, shippers gain from the additional flexibility and frequent price benefits that short-term contracting offers. At the same time, carriers can optimize their route planning and avoid empty runs, which are not only unprofitable, but also add to road congestion, noise and CO2 emissions,” Thomas Einsiedler continues.

Many road carriers are still unable to calculate transport-related emissions

 Despite low fuel prices and a difficult economic environment, Europe’s carriers are using multiple strategies to optimize fuel efficiency. Fuel consumption monitoring, eco-driver training and transport route optimization are amongst measures currently employed by a majority of respondents as part of their efforts in this area.

Nevertheless, the survey results point up major deficits when it comes to calculating and reporting transport-related CO2 emissions. Of the surveyed European road carriers, 43% said they were currently unable to calculate their transport-related emissions. Less than one third said they were able to disclose customer-related emission breakdowns. On the other hand, according to 72% carriers no more than one in ten shippers actively seek information on their CO2 emissions.

“In the currently very challenging economic situation, it’s absolutely vital that transport companies, but also our governments, continue to invest in digitalization and data-driven infrastructures,” commented Stephan Sieber, CEO of Transporeon. “We see this in the survey results: three-quarters of all carriers believe that digitalisation will improve their business situation. And we see it in the increased uptake in spot market opportunities, which only become possible through enhanced digital technology. In the years ahead, I’m convinced, digital technology will not only make the industry more efficient, but also play a central role in managing its environmental impact. And clearly we have a lot of work to do there.”

The findings are based on the response of over 1,200 European road carriers in the 2020 Transporeon Carrier Survey. Participants in the survey represent a broad cross-section of the road transport market, with an even distribution across major European countries, as well as between forwarders operating domestically, cross-border or both. Carriers from 33 countries took part in the questionnaire, covering the entire continent from the UK and Ireland to Ukraine, from Scandinavia to Spain.

A detailed summary and analysis of the Transporeon Carrier Survey is available free of charge at the following link.

The Freight Unit of the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (NaVCIS) has been involved in numerous theft cases related to cargo crime in the UK; most recently acting to recover £200,000 of stolen goods.  Long-time supporter, international freight transport insurer TT Club welcomes the agency’s successes in recovering goods and tracking their owners, significantly reducing the extent of the loss.

 Through the recent period of lockdown in the UK, there has been a demonstrable change in behaviour and tactics of criminal organisations involved in cargo theft. Restrictions on free movement have impacted criminal “business models”. Reported theft cases have demonstrated an increase in local activity and involved thefts from warehouse facilities, something less frequently experienced in the UK.

In recent weeks there have been a number of “hook-up” thefts, whereby perpetrators steal entire loaded trailers from premises. This type of incident underlines the need for physical barriers to protect goods and assets. King pin locks, perimeter fencing, CCTV and security guards would also serve to deter perpetrators.

Following a recent spate of arrests across the UK in such cases, police searched various premises and discovered several hundred boxes of fashion goods. In the normal course of events, these goods risk disposal or destruction. Fortunately, on this occasion, the arresting police force contacted NaVCIS’ Freight Unit to report the discovered goods. The agency used its extensive database of theft activity to identify the reported loss of such goods and therefore the rightful owner. In this instance nearly £200,000 worth of stolen goods were recovered and returned.

The Freight Unit is part of the NaVCIS, a national police unit that acts as a bridge between the police and industry.  Different sections of the service, of which the Freight Unit is one, handle crime involving ports, vehicle financing fraud and agricultural machinery among other types of crime.  It works hard to protect communities in the UK from the harmful consequences of crime. It provides dedicated police capability into developing and disseminating intelligence that helps police forces pursue offenders, recover stolen goods and prevent crime, when and where possible.

“This is a great demonstration of the valuable work being undertaken by NaVCIS’ Freight Unit,” said Mike Yarwood, TT Club Managing Director Loss Prevention. “Unfortunately, the Unit would not exist without the continued support and sponsorship of multiple private entities,” he continued. “Results like this should be a call to action for all potential stakeholders to support this valuable resource – less about direct benefit, rather taking responsibility to tackle crime proactively.”

TT Club has supported NaVCIS’ Freight Unit for a number of years as it believes their work is crucial to understanding and stamping out crime in the supply chain. In addition to helping recover stolen goods and allowing police to hold thieves to account, their work improves insurance records and disrupts criminal activity in the supply chain on a larger scale.

As it remains one of the main disruptors of global supply chains, TT Club’s own commitment to minimising the effects of cargo theft remains undaunted.  This element of risk is consistently one of the top five heads of cost in terms of claims for businesses TT Club insures. In addition to collaborating with a number of organisations to address this global challenge (for a recent example see the Club’s joint report on theft with BSI Supply Chain Services and Solutions here), TT Club is focused on understanding all aspects of this risk and where possible influencing good management controls to mitigate the potential losses. More advice on this approach is available in the Club’s StopLoss publication.

As restrictions on movement are lifted in the UK, stakeholders need to be ever more vigilant, exercising due diligence to ensure that they maintain security, in what is predicted to be a very active period of cargo theft. The COVID-19 lockdown is unlikely to have diminished organised criminal gangs’ appetite to realise funds through cargo theft, which continues to be a low-risk high-gain opportunity for them.

For more information on how to support the work of the NaVCIS’ Freight Unit and to help mitigate the risk of cargo theft, please contact freight@navcis.pnn.police.uk.