Netherlands Road Freight Transport Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Netherlands Road Freight Transport Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The road transport sector in Netherlands is one of the major mode of transport in Netherlands. As a major exporting nation, the Netherlands transports a lot of freight by road. As a hub of global trade, international road services are disproportionately large.

The road freight transport sector in the country has been witnessing continuous growth. The total freight transported by the road freight transport sector in Netherlands is estimated to be around 689 million tons in 2019, increasing by 1.3% from 2018.

The market faces competition and threat from rail freight and inland freight transport, which the government is looking actively to develop to reduce the burden on road freight transport.

There are around 163,000 lorries in Netherlands, of which approximately 108,000 belong to transport companies. The road transport sector employs about 150,000 people and the logistics sector employs a total of 617,000 people. Thus, 1 in 12 people in The Netherlands works in the transport and logistics sector.

One of the most transported commodities is milk. Each year, road transport is used to transport around 12 million liters of milk from farms to dairy produce manufacturers throughout the Netherlands.

Haulage companies are concentrated around economic centres in the southwest of the country, usually in seaport hinterlands. There are around 12,000 haulage companies in the country, 40% of which have only one vehicle. They are generally self-employed drivers contracted out by big companies and are very familiar with the Port of Rotterdam’s setting.

Key Market TrendsGrowth in Construction sector

The Dutch economy is the main driver of growth for road transport. The Dutch economy grew by 1.8% in 2019.

Construction transport by road has benefited in recent years from increased housing and road construction. The increase in inland transport in recent years was mainly due to the transport of more construction goods. Construction transport increased by 1.3% in 2019. This type of goods accounts for over a quarter of total domestic transport.

However, less sand, soil, and gravel was transported in 2019. This decrease was entirely due to the last two quarters. In the first half of last year, the transported weight of sand and soil increased by 10%. Statistics Netherlands does not state a cause, but the problems with the nitrogen and PFAS rules are key reasons for the decrease in the past two quarters.

Construction transport takes place per journey with a relatively high weight and over a short distance. On an average, a Dutch truck transported 22 metric ton of construction goods per trip in 2018 , while this was 12 metric ton for other goods. Nearly half of all journeys with construction goods were limited to a maximum distance of 25 kilometers, while this was the case with 29% of journeys with other goods.

International transport to grow faster

The country falls among top international road freight countries in the EU. In terms of international road freight transport in ton-km, the country has disproportionately high share relative to its economic size, because of its position as European freight gateway.

The Netherlands-Germany and Germany-Netherlands are among the top trade lanes in Europe. Germany, Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, and Sweden are the top partners for international road freight transport of the Netherlands.

The weight of goods transported by Dutch lorries internationally decreased from 132 million metric ton in 2018 to 129 million metric ton in 2019. International freight transport has fluctuated in recent years, with an increase in 2017 of 3.0%, in 2016 international transport fell by 3.5%.

The decrease in international freight transport by Dutch lorries in 2019 was mainly due to less transport from and to its neighboring countries. In particular, the weight transported to and from Germany decreased by 4.1 million metric ton (8.2%). Additionally, 1.2 million metric ton less was transported across the Belgian border (2.9 %).

Transport to and from France (the most important transport relationship after Germany and Belgium) also fell (1.9%). The weight transported to and from Scandinavia, on the other hand, increased by 9.2%. Freight transport across the border with the United Kingdom remained virtually unchanged.

Competitive Landscape

The road freight transport market in Netherlands is fragented with presence of large number of players. Some of the major local players include Simon Loos, Bakker Logistics, and Jan de Rijk Logistics. The market has witnessed acquisitions, expansion, and partnership in the recent years, such as Kuehne + Nagel acquired Rotra to expand its overland network in the Netherlands and Belgium in Nov 2019.

The logistics companies in Netherlands are facing high pressure on margins. While more than half of companies have experienced rise in costs, the prices remained same. It is important for companies to use good fuel clauses, so that rates move along with the diesel price. In Q2 of 2019, according to a survey, 50% of the companies in the transportation and logistics sector witnessed an increase in their operating costs. But prices do not move with those cost increases.

The share of foreign carriers in domestic road freight transport in Netherlands has been comparatively low which stood at 2.3% in 2018. This was 1.8% in 2010 and the highest in 2016, at 3.0%. On the other hand, in international transport, the share of foreign carriers has increased from 40.8% and 39.3% in 2010 to 49.8% and 44.6% in 2018.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support

Companies Mentioned
 
Simon Loos
Bakker Logistiek
Jan de Rijk Logistics
Peter Appel Transport
CB
VOS Logistics
Koopman Logistics Group
De Klok Logistics
St. Van Den Brink
Ewals Cargo Care
Neele
Vat Logistics
Reining Transport
Emons Group
Nunner Logistics
Desutche Post DHL Group
DSV
Kuehne+Nagel
Dachser
Geodis
Cornelissen Group*

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