Experts agree that 2023 will be a difficult year for the entire TSL industry. The past year 2022 has brought a significant increase in costs for Polish road transport.
Three main problems of the transport industry - rising fuel prices, driver shortage and legal challenges.
The biggest impact on the transport industry in recent months has had the increase in fuel costs. This problem has been particularly noticeable on the Polish market. Reduced VAT on fuel, beneficial for passenger car users, has become a setback for transport companies, as they cannot deduct the full value of the tax and therefore pay almost the same net amount as other users of the roads.
Another major problem is the shortage of drivers. Experts note that there are not enough human resources in the European Union to reduce the shortage of professional drivers. The industry is therefore faced with the major challenge of having to make more efficient use of limited human resources. Furthermore, due to this imbalance in the labour market, strong pressure for wage increases can be seen.
The situation for transport companies is not made any easier by the changing legal environment. As Maciej Wroński, President of Transport and Logistics Poland, notes, the situation in the industry is significantly influenced by market and political factors (war in Ukraine), but also by regulatory factors. Among the latter, the expert mentions:
- The revised Posted Workers Directive,
- Mobility Package,
- The “New Polish Order” regulations,
- Revised regulations defining the form of drivers' work.
Will the prices of transport services go up?
A survey carried out by Trans.eu for the report 'Transport market in Poland and Europe' shows that the consequences of the current market situation have been felt by 98% of respondents. In response to the situation in the sector, as many as 73.7% of transport companies are planning to raise or have already raised prices for their services.
Does this mean that we are only facing price increases and cost cuts? Not necessarily. As it turns out, not everyone is declaring savings in the coming months. Almost a third of the respondents of the trans.eu survey (31.1%) are preparing investments. The predominant plans are to purchase vehicles and invest in hiring new employees.
Nevertheless, a cautious approach to doing business prevails, which involves selling some vehicles (34.5%) or resigning from additional, optional insurance (32.7%).