March 20, 2024, Bucharest - The National Union of Road Hauliers from Romania (UNTRR) has launched the analysis "The Road Transport Market in Romania, 2018 – 2030." The study details the trends in the road transport industry, tracking developments and their impact on the market. It also highlights the increasing demand for road transport services, emphasizing its crucial role in both domestic and international trade.

The analysis focuses on four major components:

• macroeconomic forecasts and the importance of road transport in the economy,
• market trends and forecasts for transport,
• analysis of factors influencing the market (costs, regulations, best practices, digitalization, decarbonization, Schengen),
• the road transport market in Romania in the European context,
• best practices in road freight transport.

Radu Dinescu, Secretary General of UNTRR: "This analysis represents a particularly important step in understanding and shaping the future of road transport in Romania. We are proud to contribute to an innovative and sustainable vision for this vital sector, thus ensuring prosperity and safety in national transport. The study not only offers valuable insights into the current state of road transport in Romania but also highlights our strategic directions for the future. We are committed to promoting a robust, adaptable, fair, and sustainable road transport industry.

You can read the analysis "The Road Transport Market in Romania, 2018 – 2030" in Romanian and English here:

https://piata-transporturilor.ro/

Road Transport - Romania's Main Exporter of Services

According to the study, the road transport market reached a value of nearly 19 billion euros in 2023, of which 17 billion euros was road freight transport, with an average annual growth rate of 8.5% over the last 5 years.

Despite numerous challenges, road transport is Romania's leading exporter of services, generating €7.81 billion in 2023, more than IT services (€7.77 billion). Furthermore, road freight transport is the largest contributor to Romania's positive balance of foreign trade in services(export-import), with a contribution of €6.2 billion, surpassing the balance of IT services, which stands at €5.9 billion.

The contribution of road transport to GDP was 3% in 2022, with 2.6% coming from the road freight transport sector.

The study also emphasizes that the road transport sector continues to be the backbone of goods logistics. In the past two years, it has accounted for 71% of total goods transported (including maritime) or 72% (excluding maritime) of the total distance travelled by goods measured in million tonne- kilometres.

In conclusion, although Romanian carriers face numerous economic, financial, and legislative challenges, their activity remains remarkable, as shown by the study "The Road Transport Market in Romania, 2018 – 2030." For example, out of Romania's total foreign trade in goods (million tonnes), Romanian carriers transport 57% of the country's imports and 66% of exports.

TOP Performances of Road Transport Industry in Romania at the European Level

While Romania is the 12th largest economy in the EU and the 6th largest transport market, it ranks the 3rd in international freight transport within the EU for cross-trade and cabotage transport after Poland and Lithuania.

In 2022, Romanian road hauliers held 4% of the road freight transport market in the EU, despite Romania's economy representing only 1.8% of the EU's GDP.

TRENDS. The market for annex transport services is expected to grow at a faster pace than the overall Romanian economy due to the country's strategic position with access to the Black Sea and because Romania is still an emerging country.

Perspectives of Road Freight Transport in Romania - Horizon 2030

• Demand for logistics and freight transport services is expected to increase from 2025, after overcoming the current inflation crisis. This is due to the boost the manufacturing industry will receive (mainly from the expansion of e-commerce and supply chain development).
• Romania's accession to the Schengen area with its land borders is urgent. Among the negative effects of not joining Schengen are: financial losses in the industry (losses of 2.55 billion euros last year, 2.41 billion euros in 2022, and 19.1 billion euros from 2012 to 2023) or extremely long waiting times at the border (usually 8-16 hours at the Hungary border, 3 days during holidays, with a historical maximum of 5 days, 20-30 hours at the Bulgarian border, with 3 days in summer, and a standard 7 days for trucks carrying goods to Austria).
• Restrictions imposed by Mobility Package 1 will continue to affect Romanian road hauliers' cross-trade and cabotage activities. They are awaiting the decision of the European Court of Justice after the EU Advocate General recommended the annulment of the obligation for trucks to return home. His action was initiated following appeals filed by UNTRR, Romania and other member states as early as 2020.
• The shortage of professional drivers remains a major challenge for companies. Currently, road hauliers face a shortage of up to 33,800 professional truck drivers.
• For the period 2023 - 2030, the conservative forecast scenario shows an annual growth of 1% in volume and 8% in value of the road freight transport market, estimated to reach nearly 30 billion euros;
• In 2024, the overall operating costs of road hauliers are expected to increase by up to 15% (due to increased excise duties, MTPL insurance, long waiting times at borders, new CO2 taxes, provisions imposed by Mobility Package 1 like the costs for mandatory retrofitting with smart tachograph 2), which will lead to price increases to the final consumer.

The third edition of the sectoral analysis "The Road Transport Market in Romania, 2018 – 2030" commissioned by UNTRR was conducted by Interbiz. We thank our partners in this endeavor - commercial vehicle manufacturers Daimler Truck, Scania, Volvo, energy suppliers OMV and MOL, as well as service providers dedicated to the transport industry - CTE Trailers, Eurogate, and Obilet. Other results of this study will be communicated by UNTRR in future press releases.

 About UNTRR: The National Union of Road Hauliers from Romania (UNTRR) is the professional and employer organization, non-governmental, independent, non-political, founded in 1990 on democratic principles, which promotes and defends the interests of road hauliers nationally and internationally, registering since its establishment over 16,000 registered companies - operators performing domestic and international freight and passenger transport.