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East European trucks coming to the UK increase by 75%
Page 18
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We're still awaiting the influx of East European drivers following EU expansion, but there are more trucks than ever. David Harris reports.
EASTERN EUROPEAN countries which joined the European Union last May have recorded a 75% increase in truck journeys to and from the UK.
The Department for Transport report, Road Goods Vehicles Travelling to Mainland Europe, Fourth Quarter2004,has received a mixed response.
Simon Chapman, chief economist at the FreightTransport Association, says: "Quite clearly the accession states have taken immediate advantage of their new status as EU members. It is too soon to say how long this sharp upward trend in their lorry movements to the UK will last before finding its natural level.
"However, it clearly does not help the fortunes of our UK-based international road transport industry, which has seen the market share of Europe/UK transport movements reduce from over 50% in 1994 to just 25% in 2004."
Chapman adds that one thing UK operators can be pleased about is that their 25% share of the market has held steady since the last quarter of 2003, suggesting that the slump might finally have bottomed out. Truck pares are growing fast throughout Central and Eastern Europe. In the Czech Republic,for example, the number of trucks on the road rose by just 7% between 2000 and 2002, but by 70% since EU accession.