Robust Recovery of Freight Offers

After the initial shock to the European market due to the Coronavirus, the Teleroute Freight Exchange, that together with 123Cargo and Wtransnet form one of the largest European transport collaboration networks, confirms the return of activity with a notable upturn in the number of freight offers in recent weeks, placing the activity at pre-coronavirus level and even higher in the last weeks of July, exhibiting none of the typical seasonal slowdown.

The most difficult moment for the transportation industry due to the crisis took place in April, where the complete stoppage of industrial activity throughout Europe caused freight volume to drop dramatically. This period was then followed by a second disrupted supply chain period where freight forwarders and carriers, looking for new routes for new volumes, turned to Teleroute to manage demand and the number of new users on Teleroute grew by 1,200.

Speaking about this trend, Fabrice Douteaud, COO of Teleroute (pictured), said, “we are very proud of the resilience shown by the transport & freight forwarding companies by continuing their important work during these very difficult times. We have experienced an exceptional demand for our freight exchange during this crisis, a proof of the value we bring to the market: facilitating the collaboration of transport professionals.

“After the month of April with volume below average, we are in the middle of the summer with a very notable recovery of the freight offers on Teleroute with France as the country of origin, which has doubled. This leaves us with an activity in July that has far exceeded the monthly average number of published freight offers, mainly in the domestic market (90% of volumes) and in exports to Belgium, Germany and Spain in equal parts. On the other hand, if we look at imports, the numbers are even better, in the last two months we find volumes well above the usual and that shows the recovery of the main countries that send merchandise to France: Italy, which leads the ranking with 37% of freight offers; Germany (29%), Belgium (23%) and Spain (7%).

“Regarding the data obtained from the freight offers published on Teleroute originating in Italy, one of the countries most affected by the pandemic, we find a surprising recovery in July where the volume has doubled thanks to the reactivation of transactions with France, which account for 57% of Italian exports. Germany with 18% and Spain with 15% close the top 3. In relation to inbound freight, the transalpine country doubled the number of import offers in July compared to previous months, placing activity above the average in 2019 and only slightly lower than the months with the highest activity on the freight exchange. A comeback led by the flow of goods with France, with 40% of the freight offers published, and Germany (15%) as the main countries offering freight to the Italian market.

“Focusing on Germany, another of the European economy’s main drivers, we observed a strong rebound in activity in July with 25% above the monthly average in 2019, the domestic market’s upward growth, which was already palpable in June, and accounting for 50% of the freight offers with Germany as origin and/or destination. The other freight offers, are divided into 28% imports, mainly from Italy and France, and exports (remaining 22%) whose main destinations are France and the Netherlands. Numbers that, in accordance with the offers registered in Teleroute, place the European transport market that Teleroute serves, already back to normal in practically the entire region and, on the current trajectory, will be performing ahead of 2019 for the remainder of the year.”