News / French logistics sector on tenterhooks over Paris Olympics opening ceremony

© Ilja Enger Tsizikov |

Fears the Paris Olympic, and Paralympic, Games, with the opening ceremony this evening, could be blighted by industrial action in the transport sector have not materialised, and attention had turned to the promise of a grandiose and unique show for audiences worldwide.

The centrepiece is an 85-strong flotilla of vessels on the river Seine, with delegations from more than 200 countries on board.

The French authorities acted swiftly to offset any risk of labour unrest bringing chaos to the first Olympiad to be held in the country for a century.

Unions at state railway SNCF had threatened to stage strikes during the event, to boost their demands over pay and working conditions, but a deal over bonuses several weeks ago quelled such fears.

However, it has emerged that, overnight, SNCF had suffered what has been described as “co-ordinated criminal attacks” on its network, leaving rail traffic disrupted on several major routes.

Attacks took place at several “selected locations” across France, explained chairman Jean-Pierre Farandou, who said France and the French people had been targeted, and blamed “a gang of irresponsible lunatics”.

Rail traffic is expected to be affected throughout the weekend.

In normal circumstances, the sheer size and scale of the Olympics and the required preparations would already have a significant impact on transport operations. Factors such as road closures, increased security and peak season holiday traffic – all against the backdrop of rising transport demand associated with the event – will likely not just affect the Paris region, but the whole of France.

As for air traffic, the airspace in and around the French capital is closed between 7 pm and midnight, during the opening ceremony – imposed due to fears of a terrorist attack.

In a recent Freight Perspectives report on the impact of the Games on the French haulage sector, Christian Dolderer, lead research analyst at transportation management platform Transporeon, noted that while demand was expected to slightly increase, the market would likely face reduced capacity and increased inefficiency.

“This is expected to result in a continued increase in contracted load rejections (transports that are either timed out or rejected by carriers on the Transporeon platform), and a slight decrease in the number of offers per load on the spot market,” he explained.

“The first metric indicates that more loads will be moved to the spot market, not only for the impacted weeks, but also for the preceding and following weeks. The second metric provides insight into market competition, reinforcing the basic theory that more offers lead to lower prices and fewer offers to higher prices.”

But although initial signs, such as these price increases and decreases of influencing factors, are visible and could be caused by the event, these changes could still be seen as usual spot market behaviour and fluctuations, he added.

“What we can confirm is that, seven days before the Olympic Games, none of the prior-described potential effects significantly affected the French domestic market. However, this does not necessarily mean there will be no effect at all; it could still be too early to see a direct impact.”

In normal times, transport in Paris is already a problem, but during the Olympics it will be even worse. Some areas are inaccessible without a QR code, whether you’re a private individual or logistics professional.

Between QR codes that don’t work and areas where access is totally forbidden, even more detours than usual will be required for transport to reach destinations, making life almost impossible for delivery drivers.

Meanwhile, the lead supplier of logistics services to the Games, CMA CGM subsidiary Ceva Logistics, has been handed a task that involves the movement of: 170,000 pallets; 1.3 million items of furniture, fittings, equipment and goodies; 60,000+ pieces of luggage from airports to Olympic sites; 250 containers of stands and mobile seats; transport, assembly and disassembly of 17,000 beds at the athletes’ village; 14,000 trips to carry out last-mile delivery with a fleet of more than 600 vehicles; 900,000+ sports equipment items, including shooting weapons, trampolines, poles, boats and surfboards; and  end-to-end logistics for the world’s largest audiovisual production.