14pc rise for road transport prices

European road transport prices rose by an average of 14 per cent between the fourth quarter of 2016 and the fourth quarter of 2017, according to the Transport Market Monitor produced by Capgemini and Transporeon.

Between the third and fourth quarters of 2017, the rise was 6.7 per cent taking the TMM index to 107.9. Capacity rose by 6.4 per cent between the third and fourth quarters of 2017 to an index value of 71.8. However, that figure is 23.3 per cent lower than the year before.

Erik van Dort, supply chain director at Capgemini, said: “Transport companies managed to get good prices for their services in 2017, but Q4 is really unique. In the eleven years that we’ve tracked transport prices we never recorded such high prices! Q3 was already close to a record for historic Q3’s with only Q3 2008 higher, but Q4 is breaking records compared to any previous quarter. Although Q1 is always a slow quarter, it will be interesting to see whether the drivers’ shortage translates in higher prices than normal in Q1”.