To bring more certainty and assurance in the road transport market for shippers, European Shippers’ Council is getting involved, together with Wtransnet, in a road transport initiative called Platform of trust.
The initiative aims at creating a platform in which trusted and certified carriers will be available for spot orders whenever the contractual transport service provider is not in a position to fulfill his engagement.
ESC is concerned about the present situation where every 15 minutes a truck driver drops out of the market into retirement, with only one replacement stepping in every hour – according to statistics by BGL, the German transport association, covering the last 12 months and only Germany! This trend will go on for the years to come.
The diminishing number of drivers translates into a lack of available trucks, just at a time when the economy is booming. The transport market which was a buyer’s market for the last 30 years has turned into a seller’s market with limited options for the seller.
This transformation of the market has not only consequences for the daily operations with delays in shipping due to the lack of trucks. Safety and security for the cargo are also a great concern. In a market where trucks are rare the usual control of an unknown carrier in the spot market tends to be less rigorous for fear of losing the truck to a competitor. That is the ideal environment for a transport business model based on negligence, or even worse, on crime and theft.
Platform of trust will provide more safety and security for cargo.
