The comprehensive analysis of the region’s largest road freight operators profiled in Ti’s European Road Freight Market 2017 report reveals that the European road freight market was characterised by rising revenues recorded by most of the haulage operators, driven overwhelmingly by volume growth.
One of the central findings of the report is that road freight operators are adapting their growth strategies in response to the competitive and technological pressures as well as consumers demand for real-time information and visibility. The analysis of the providers reveals that most of the road freight operators have increased the volume of investments in technology platforms and freight marketplaces. One of the many examples is DB Schenker Logistics, the market leader for European road freight, according to Ti’s bespoke market size and rankings. In an effort to press ahead with the digital transformation of its business model, in February 2017 DB Schenker invested $25m in the online platform uShip. The investment, which represents DB Schenker’s largest equity interest in a digital company do date, should enable the company to streamline its transport management.
Another example is DHL Freight which has also been promoting digitisation in the road freight market and has brought shippers and transport providers together on an online marketplace platform, Saloodo!. The solution supports full truck load, part truck load and less than truck load services and enables companies to pay, manage and track their shipments using a dashboard system.
According to the survey Ti undertook in support of the European Road Freight Market 2017 report, the trend that sees many road freight operators turning to more agile technologies is likely to continue into the next years. The survey found that digital freight marketplaces are perceived to have the greatest potential to transform the market. We are therefore likely to see other haulage companies partnering with online freight marketplaces in an effort to speed up their time-to-market and respond with agility to their customers’ needs.
The report also reveals that the expansion of European networks as well as the development of industry-specific solutions were also high-priority areas amongst European haulage companies. Dachser, for instance, has focused on further developing industry-specific solutions and added more capacity in its temperature-controlled network to further develop its food logistics capacity.
In summary, the analysis reveals that the big road freight operators are changing the dynamics of the market. This change is rooted primarily in the changing needs of road freight customers, urging operators to provide opportunities for direct relationships to be formed with their customers. Those operators that fail to respond to these new demand patterns will miss out on an opportunity to become more effective and most importantly risk being left behind.
If this brief has been of interest, you might also like to pre-order Ti’s European Road Freight Transport 2017 report and receive 25% discount. The report includes profiles of the region’s largest road freight operators. In addition, included in the report are Ti’s unique market sizing and forecasts, broken down by domestic and international road freight, for each European country.
Author: Violeta Keckarovska
Source: Transport Intelligence, October 12, 2017
