Downsizing is becoming a common occurrence in the European transport business, and although growth had been quite promising back in 2016, there is some doubt regarding how well the European transportation has fared since that time. After going through certain points, or rather issues, that have been put forward by the biggest names in the business, as well as some of the lesser known, strictly local trucking companies, it begins to make more sense as to why there is reason to be concerned.

Fuel Expenses are Rising

The cost of fuel has never really been as bad in Europe as it has been for decades in Asia. However, a recent rise in fuel prices across multiple European nations has raised an understandable degree of concern within the transportation industry, operating in and out of Europe.

Europe is currently a mixed bag when it comes to fuel pricing, so instead of generalising, a more focused approach towards understanding the concerns makes more sense. The following few observations are taken from a report published in January 2020:

In spite of Luxembourg enjoying one of the lowest oil price to daily wage ratios in the entire world, a marked increase has now been noted
Switzerland, applauded up until the beginning of 2019 for keeping the price of oil low, has increased petrol and diesel prices by a whopping 10%
Italy has become one of Europe’s most expensive nations for petrol and diesel
Germany has managed to maintain control over diesel prices, but the price of petrol is rising at an alarmingly disproportionate rate
Austria has seen a remarkable increase of 5% price hike in fuel costs
The Netherlands have reached a point where they are nearly at the helm of becoming the most expensive nation in Europe for buying petrol
Norway stands as the most expensive nation to buy both petrol and diesel in Europe
Denmark has seen the second most dramatic increase in the price of petrol in Europe, after Norway

The prices have so far not seen too much deviation this year. However, that’s mostly because this is usually not the time when the price of oil begins to see fluctuations. It remains to be seen how the European Union and now separated UK fair in terms of managing fuel prices, post March 2020.

Complicated and Confusing Tachograph Rules in Europe

Anyone who is even remotely familiar with operating and/or managing trucks across European routes knows that the tachograph rules are very confusing, not to mention they also keep changing these rules and regulations every now and then. To provide an example regarding the kind of rules that often makes things complicated, let’s take a look at one of the more complex tachograph rules applicable for ferry crossings:

The mandatory daily rest period of 11 hours can be taken an exception to, if the breaks or driving time does not exceed 1 hour and 2 breaks in total. The driver must, however, still maintain the 11-hour rest period mandate, and the 2 breaks and 1-hour exceptions are to be used by the rider in perfect calculation to make up for the time they require while riding the ferry or a train across.

Some of the common issues faced by logistics on account of the complexity in European tachograph rules can be highlighted as below:

Incurring excessive fines by breaking rules that neither drivers, nor the managers were aware of
Being marked as frequent offenders, in spite of trying to obey the tachograph rules, thus incurring heavier fines
Feeling of helplessness on account of the situation
Suspension of license or worse if the rules are broken far too many times, willingly or not

To help make things easier for drivers, managers and company owners feeling puzzled with the complexities of tachograph rules, this FleetGo page has been created with detailed, relevant and simplified information covering all of the European tachograph rules. They are one of the more aware software service providers operating in the European logistics business, and their simplified solutions are ideal for nearly anybody to efficiently track all goods vehicles, stay aware of multiple vehicle conditions, get remote diagnostic information, and analyse tachograph readings to improve business performance.

Process Improvement is a Confusing Scenario Right Now

Ideally, process management and improvement should be particularly manageable today in not just Europe, but everywhere in the developed routes across the world. This is expected largely on account of the software resources and connected hardware that has made its way into logistics today.

Unfortunately, the same technology that was supposed to make things simpler and easier has in fact contributed towards complicating the logistics processes in transportation. This is not a problem that’s exclusive to Europe either, as the confusion is prevalent across the entire sector and throughout the wider world. To put problems that technology itself has brought into the industry into perspective, the following points should be pertinent:

There are far too many choices for a lot of hardcore logistics experts from the older days to sort through
While the above situation should be ideal for keeping software resource prices competitive, that has not proven to be the situation in Europe
Confusion and fear of misdirecting finances to the wrong services has prevented a number of smaller companies from adopting newer, better technology
The presence of misleading marketing campaigns and their effects in making the customer pay more is not absent either
Adoption of technology doesn’t always guarantee results, but the expense is guaranteed
Onboarding, training and retraining costs are heavy
Constantly evolving logistics technology is financially taxing for the smaller businesses to keep up with
On failing to keep up with the evolving tech, the competition will pull ahead
This reduces the chances of survival/growth in Europe’s highly competitive transportation industry
This is another fear which itself leads to poor decision making and consequent losses in investment

There is no denying that the latest in logistics software can do wonders for a business’s deliverability, delivery timings, overall productivity and of course, the bottom-line, but the in between processes do involve a significant investment in time, effort and money. It can be overwhelming for older, more traditional businesses in logistics, but staying away from the upgraded tech is not a sustainable strategy to them either.

It should once again be mentioned that a number of these problems, in their general sense, are not just exclusive to Europe, but can be found plaguing truckers and logistics managers pretty much anywhere nowadays. However, the US is faring better in this department, as compared to Europe in general.

Germany is perhaps the best nation in the continent to start a logistics business in at the moment, in spite of the high fuel costs. The reason for this conclusion is simple – Germans with their 259-billion-euro logistics industry are currently holding the number one spot internationally for being the leading performer in logistics (4.19 index points). Next in line would be the UK (139 bullion Euro), as the British have manged to foster the second largest and most successful logistics business in all of Europe. While it’s not all bad or even near to how things are in parts of Asia, perhaps a more planned approach is necessary to address the issues which may become bigger problems down the line.