The latest Freight Transport Association quarterly transport activity survey is now available. The second half of 2006 saw a marked increase in demand for domestic, third party and international road freight services. This follows a period of sustained market weakness in 2005 and early 2006. Headline results include:
- UK based international hauliers report strong growth in demand for services to and from mainland Europe
- UK trade with Western Europe remains robust, reflecting an increasingly buoyant eurozone economy. Strong growth in import traffic from Eastern Europe looks set to continue
- more operators plan to expand their hgv fleets as a result of increasing market optimism
- demand for deep sea and air freight services on most trade routes will be lower in Q4 than Q3 (which traditionally sees a cyclical peak ahead of Christmas consumer demand)
- the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the European Union on 1 January 2007 was not anticipated to significantly influence recruitment plans within the road transport industry.
The full report is available on: http://www.fta.co.uk/information/otherissues/trends/qtas/qtas0610.pdf