The carriage of goods by road shrinks 20% in 2009

The market for transport of goods by road is being negatively affected, especially since the second half of 2008, because of the weakness of consumption and industrial activity. Thus, after having risen by more than 7% per year in the last years of the Decade, the market shrank by 5.8% in 2008, 18,000 million euros.

The value of national transport operations recorded a decrease of 7% in 2008, 15,700 million euros, i.e. 87% of the total market. On the other hand, international transport increased 1%, to EUR 2,300 million.

In 2008, an increase of business derived from urgent operations, with delivery in less than 24 hours, put at 2.5%, while the conventional transportation showed a decrease of 7% was recorded. This last area of activity lost, therefore, participation, while continued absorbing more than 85% of the market.

Significant deterioration of the economic situation that took place in 2009 intensified the trend of contraction of the market. Thus the sectoral turnover declined nearly 20% in 2009, which was reaching a total of about 14,500 million euros turnover.

In a context of strong fall in demand and increased pressure on prices, in 2009 has intensified the trend of decline in the sector profitability that had already occurred in 2008. However, this fact has been limited by the favorable behavior of some of the main items of costs, in particular the price of automotive diesel.

The main companies in the sector are adopting a strategy of expanding outwards, as a result of the less unfavourable evolution of the demand for international operations.

The negative behaviour of the economic activity is motivating the disappearance of many small and medium-sized companies, as well as a progressive concentration of supply. In 2008 identified nearly 116,300 companies, Figure 4.7% less than that recorded in the previous year.

However, the sector is still characterized by the atomization of the offer, counting more than half of the operators with a single vehicle. For its part, the first five companies of the sector gathered a combined 10% market share in 2008, while the top ten concentrated 14% of the market

The number of vehicles authorized for the carriage of goods by road was reduced by 1% in 2008, ranking slightly below the 567.000. Of them, 369.000 had authorisation for the provision of public service, figure which registered a decline of 3.4%.