News / Ten French hauliers going bust every day, claims trade body

France’s biggest freight transport and logistics federation, the TLF, claims 10 road hauliers are going bust every working day as the sector grapples with a persistently poor business climate.

Insufficient demand and low margins have led to cash flow issues for one in two companies, with 645 bankruptcies recorded in the second quarter, the worst results since 2020.

Whereas company failures usually decline in the spring, this year they continued to rise, 1.4% compared with the previous Q1. Over the past year, the increase was 7%, and over two years 55%, noted the TLF, whose members employ more than 200,000 staff.

The industry body points the finger at “the fiscal and regulatory environment damaging the competitiveness of French transport companies”, adding: “They have an average sector margin of only 2% to 3%, among the lowest in the French economy and by far the lowest in Europe.”

It wants “urgent and decisive action” to ensure the sustainability of a sector mainly composed of micro-businesses and SMEs.

TLF president Jean-Thomas Schmit said: “The government bill on public finances and the social security budget will be a decisive moment. The TLF will be paying very close attention to any new taxes on firms’ operating costs which would aggravate the already alarming situation.”

Figures from France’s national statistics office, INSEE, show inflation fell slightly in August, to 0.9%, largely due to a slowdown in prices for services and, to a lesser extent, a decline in prices of manufactured goods.

In the current climate of uncertainty, households are choosing to save rather than spend.

France’s national accounts data for Q2 25 reveal a further increase in the household savings rate, which stands at 18.9% of gross disposable income, up from 18.6% in the previous quarter. This is the highest level since Covid.

Meanwhile, in Germany, the economy continues to stagnate, with the hoped-for recovery failing to materialise. Production has been particularly weak in manufacturing, including in core verticals such as automotive, chemicals and industrial goods, according to transport body, ELVIS.

It highlights that hauliers are struggling with rising personnel costs and capacity constraints, with a rising number of insolvencies.