- Personnel costs: Here the rate of increase since 2010 is 15.9 percent. The reasons: Demand for logistics services is increasing (Commerzbank expects growth of 2 percent for road haulage in 2015 and 2016 respectively). But fewer and fewer people want to work as drivers. At the same time, personnel qualification requirements have increased, for example through the trend toward system logistics and the increasing digitization of processes.
- Energy: Although the industry is currently benefiting from declining fuel prices (dropping by roughly 12 percent from 2014 to 2015), energy costs still make up a quarter (25.7 percent) of total costs in road haulage. This is mainly due to the price explosion in the early 2000s. Between January 2010 and 2014 alone, fuel prices surged upwards by more than 18 percent. However, the industry cannot expect the current low energy prices to continue in the long run. The energy factor will again become an important aspect of cost management, according to Commerzbank.
