European hauliers are looking to expand | Reports and Publications

DWF's Road Transport and Logistics team, in collaboration with One Poll, have conducted a survey and discovered that despite the challenges of the last year, transport companies polled in Ireland, Spain, Italy, Germany and Poland are positively looking ahead to expansion.

While the desire to expand into other European countries may be partly driven by opportunity, some companies are being forced to reconsider their business models due to changes to rules relating to weekly rest entitlement for drivers.

The survey indicated that most international road transport businesses are having to make changes to their operations to deal with the changes to EU Drivers' Hours' regulations. New EU regulations mean that operators will have to organise the workloads of international drivers to ensure they return home more regularly.

The survey found that 63% said they will arrange transport home to base for international drivers, while 36% of those surveyed said they will look to establish one or more additional bases with a view to drivers completing shorter legs of international journeys as a result.

European Hauliers Survey - international drivers and transport

Vikki Woodfine, Partner and Head of Road Transport and Logistics at DWF, said: "Our survey clearly shows that European road transport decision makers are gearing up for expansion and change".

Despite optimism of some companies, some perceived barriers to the market remain. The survey found that Brexit and lack of free movement within the EU was a concern for 39%, while 42% of haulage companies consider the complexity of regulation involved in setting up operations in the UK to be a barrier to establishing a base here. For practical tips on setting up a transport hub in the UK, please visit our interactive guide >

European haulage survey results graph two - barriers