Vehicle handling ports in Europe and the companies providing services to them have been dealing with a lot of challenges over the past 12 months. More of them are being used as storage yards and are expected to provide sophisticated yard management, and with space for expansion an issue, capacity has become a big problem. 

Elsewhere, political and financial upheaval across Europe has either taken its toll on vehicle flows in and out of the ports or led to new opportunities for trade with re-emerging markets, such as North Africa, Russia and Iran. The UK’s departure from the EU is a cause of both concern and hope to ports there, as it is for those handling transhipment volumes on the continent.