Refrigerated Road Freight Services

Market Outlook on Refrigerated Road Freight Services

France

Decelerating economic growth and persistent skilled workforce shortage are set to weigh on the general transportation activity of France in the coming months. It is estimated that the FMCG, F&B and e-commerce markets are forecasted to grow marginally by 1 to 2 percent in 2020. Movement of essential goods like medical supplies and other consumer goods have increased the usage of reefer trucks in France.

The road freight transportation market in France is highly competitive due to the presence of several suppliers in the market, which could impact the profitability of suppliers in current scenario

• The industry is highly fragmented with around 70 percent of the trucks owned by small and independent suppliers and road transport is expect to grow in the next few years due to consistent growth from CPG and e-commerce industries
• Trucking demand in the country is not expected to see any sudden increase due to the overall slowdown; But the demand for dry vans, reefers and other types of trucks from food and beverage industry is unlikely to go down due to consistent domestic demand from the sector

The movement of food and beverages are considered to be the major demand driven products transported in reefer truck in France

• The large movements of pharmaceutical products are from city areas to airports and most of the raw materials are procured from China and other Asian countries
• The recent outbreak of COVID-19 has impacted all types of freight movement in France, especially food and beverages are drastically reduced 

Supply & Demand Dynamics – Reefer Transportation 

Reefer truck capacity and demand are expected to be moderate in the next two years, and newer trucks are expected to enter the market. In France, CPG and retail companies are likely to engage with 3PL suppliers because of the capability to organize different trucking contractors, large truck fleets, service coverage to remote areas and offer quality services compared to independent suppliers

The supply meets demand as the number of suppliers increased over the years. There is a shift in trucking demand from Western Europe to Eastern Europe as the manufacturers move towards Eastern countries due to very low operating cost. As a result of this shift, trucking supply is increasing whereas the demand also has started to surge in Eastern European countries

The average age of trucks available in the market are less than 10 years. The CPG, retail and F&B goods transportation in France is dominated by road transportation and transports by ~95 percent of the freight

• The French market with respect to commercial vehicle registrations has grown by 4 percent in recent years. However, in 2020, the new truck registrations are expected to decrease due to market slow down in freight movement, as a result of COVID-19 impact
• Utilization levels of dry and reefer trucks in France was at 85 percent in 2019, however in 2020 it is expected to be more than 95 percent. Also, it is forecasted that the utilization rate of dry trucks could drop moderately, due to an expected decrease in the freight demand from overall manufacturing industry

Market Trends – Reefer Transportation

Integrated delivery

• Major FMCG and F&B are now moving towards complete delivery solutions which includes transportation, storage, warehousing and distribution in France. Due to this the handling of food and perishable products is improved
• Majority of shippers are now preferring cold chain 3PL suppliers for their transportation and distribution processes

Driver Shortage

• There is an acute shortage of drivers in the France trucking industry including the reefer trucking sector
• The extent of driver shortage is estimated to be 50,000 truck drivers in the coming years and the migrant population would form major chunk of the drivers in the future