News / European hauliers squeezed as rates fall and costs keep rising

© Andrii Yalanskyi

Both spot and contract rates in the European road freight market have fallen as the sector continues to struggle with weak demand and high operating costs – but there could be a rate recovery on the horizon. 

Data platform Upply, Transport Intelligence (Ti) and the International Road Haulage Association (IRU) found that the European road freight spot rate index was down 8.2 points year on year in Q1 24.  

The decline was attributed to low demand, largely caused by inflation in ...