Freight News, Road

French road transport stages limited recovery

[ September 8, 2020   //   Chris ]

Goods road transport operators in France are still suffering, but is in a better position than at the start of the pandemic earlier when first quarter revenue was down by 27%, reports the country’s National Federation of Road Transport (FNTR).

Now, 5% of all trucks are still non-operational, and revenue for the sector was down by 12% in June, it says.

Companies most severely affected by the pandemic are those working with the automobile sector and those transporting hazardous materials. In June, 76% of trucks in the automobile sector and 70% of hazardous materials trucks were non-operational. Removal companies did not work at all between March and May. 

However, workers in the goods transport sector have not yet been seriously impacted, thanks to government furlough measures, FNTR added. 

Although 55% of business leaders believe their workforce will remain stable over the next three months, a third of companies anticipate cutting staff numbers.

FNTR says it published its recovery plan on 4 May but has still not heard anything from the government. The only measure to help transport companies was the more regular reimbursement of a percentage of fuel tax receipts to help operators’ cash flow. The government has recently released a recovery plan, but there are no specific measures for road transport.

Tags: FNTR