TIMOCOM transport barometer: German transport economy has fewer orders in the third quarter of 2019 than last year
Downward trend has stopped – the market is at 94 percent as compared to the previous year
Erkrath, Germany, 2019-10-17 – Germany’s transport companies have done less business in the third quarter of 2019 than in the previous year. There was a 12 percent decrease in truck transports within German from July to September as compared to the same period last year. However, the cyclical downward trend in demand for transport services registered up to the middle of the year within Europe’s first Smart Logistics System has stopped. The information comes from the IT company TIMOCOM in its analysis on the third quarter of 2019 in view of the transport barometer.
The downward trend from the first half of 2019 has stopped, the order situation has stabilised. “The market is at 94 percent as compared to the previous year,” according to TIMOCOM Business Analyst Tilman Fecke.
“Compared to the previous year, transport demand in Germany has weakened slightly,” says TIMOCOM Business Analyst Tilman Fecke. Despite this, the number of freight offers placed on the freight exchange since January 2019 has stabilised over the course of the year. “The market is at 94 percent as compared to the previous year,” according to Fecke.
Crop losses due to heavy rain in Spain, increasing stock levels due to Brexit uncertainty in the United Kingdom.
Things are very different in the individual EU countries: for example, heavy rains in the Mediterranean region and eastern Andalusia over the past few weeks have caused massive crop losses for fruits and vegetables, and this has an effect on truck transport from the region. “The significant increase in exports recorded by Spanish agriculture in the first two quarters of this year has decreased,” Fecke observed. “Couple that with the political blockade in Spain, where there is still no government. The uncertainty of the situation has an equally dampening effect on exports.” The result is that vehicles driving back to southern Europe are missing from the market. “That is why we are seeing a 14 percent increase in freight offers to Spain and a 12 percent increase to Portugal as compared to the third quarter of 2018,” Fecke continued.
In terms of developments in the United Kingdom, TIMOCOM's transport barometer reflects the huge amount of uncertainty on the market dominating the European economy in light of the Brexit discussion. While the number of freight offers from EU countries to the United Kingdom plummeted by 56 percent in the first two quarters of this year, there are currently more transports heading towards the British Isles. Fecke: “In the third quarter we are once again seeing inventory increases, which shows that companies that have locations in the United Kingdom are currently preparing for the next few months.”
TIMOCOM's transport barometer celebrates 10 years
The IT company has been using the transport barometer since 2009 to analyse the development of transport offers and demand as found in the freight and vehicle space smart apps, which are integrated into the Smart Logistics System. More than 130,000 users generate up to 750,000 international freight and vehicle space offers daily. The system helps over 43,000 TIMOCOM customers to meet their logistics goals smartly, safely and simply.