INSIGHT: Europe has to face trucker issues

21 December 2007 12:13  [Source: ICIS news]

By Nigel Davis

LONDON (ICIS news)--Not enough attention is being paid to the drivers who transport so many thousands of tonnes of chemicals across Europe. The drivers' lot is not necessarily a happy one and the prospects of it improving are far from certain.

Stiffer regulations have made transporting chemicals by road more difficult and will lead to increased demand for drivers. Logistics providers want more from their workforce as efficiency pressures increase.

Europe’s chemicals trade group Cefic and the European Chemical Transport Association (ECTA) have raised the alarm, pointing to the road haulage age profile -- 30% of drivers in Germany are over 50, for example -- and the fact that driver positions are not being filled, particularly with fewer potential heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers coming out of the armed forces.

These worrying developments are compounded by the trends that suggest the transport of chemicals by road across Europe will increase by more than 2.5% over the next 10 years. Road haulage is expected to grow faster than some other chemicals transport options.

But what can be done to alleviate a potentially difficult situation and one that will dent Europe’s already battered chemicals competitiveness?

Europe’s chemicals makers and their logistics service providers (LSPs) could work more closely together and at least plan together more effectively.

The increasing importance of chemicals clusters across western and central Europe has called into question the effectiveness of current, largely “us and them”, relationships.

And unfortunately the driver and his or her truck -- there are too few women on the road -- come at the bottom of the pile. Driver comfort and security are big issues.

Perhaps raising awareness of the importance of transport and logistics to European competitiveness could help encourage more young people to take up the occupation. LSPs could help by increasing driver flexibility.

This is one of those issues, however, where concerted action is needed across a number of fronts and not just by the logistics service providers and road hauliers themselves.

Chemicals shippers have a critical role to play in helping ensure that their logistics requirements will continue to be met effectively and efficiently.

Cefic and ECTA talk about raising public awareness of impending trucking difficulties.

But they also raise contentious issues such as increasing allowable maximum vehicle gross weights and dimensions at the European level and possibly even reducing weekend driving bans. The sort of developments that many Europeans would be hard pressed to accept.

Europe has a problem in that it wants to lower volumes of dangerous goods transported on its road networks but seeks greater industrial efficiencies.

Cefic and ECTA say that current awareness of the issue is low.

This problem will not go away. European authorities have some role to play in easing the situation but cross industry groups can tackle the issues most effectively.

The European chemical industry perhaps needs to recognise that those who help distribute its goods represent the sector to a wide section of the public. They are the face of the industry on the road.

Their vital job, however, is becoming more difficult and less well remunerated. Wider industry attention needs to be drawn to that fact.

By: Nigel Davis
+44 20 8652 3214

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