A roller coaster ride in spring In the 2nd quarter of the year the European transport market recorded a slight cargo overhang with an average cargo to cargo space ratio of 52:48. Overall, recent months saw significantly more cargo than at the beginning of the year, however with major fluctuations:
In April, capacity utilisation stood at 49 percent, which was fully 16 percentage points above the value for the previous month, but actually weaker than in previous years. Thus, April was not able to make full use of the invigorating effect from the month of March and could not reach the level of earlier years.
In May, the transport barometer rose by a further 10 percentage points to 59 percent freight share – which is the year’s current high. For TimoCom's Chief Representative Marcel Frings the explanation is obvious: “The rise is due to the many long weekends and correspondingly short working weeks in the holiday month. Dispatchers thus had to get the goods to customers in less available transport time.“
In June, capacity utilisation fell again to 48 percent. Which is even one percentage point below the beginning of the quarter.
Quiet outlook for 3rd quarter
The experts from TimoCom believe that July, August and September will be rather quiet as was the case in previous years, and that freight volumes will exceed the available capacities in the market again in autumn. However, the impact of Brexit is still difficult to assess. “The outcome of the referendum was an unexpected shock and its implications are still somewhat uncertain at this point in time," explains Frings.
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[After a year working with different General Terms and Conditions, the logistics associations in Germany have once again agreed on a common set of rules for the transportation industry. It has been in place since the start of the year.
