FVET says that hauliers in the region are grappling with increases in costs, as well as low transport rates that encourage “aggressive practices” to attract business. The haulage association adds that the Valencia area also has a deficit of around 2,000 drivers.
“Among the problems cited, we are concerned that unfair competition has regained prominence. It has gone from affecting 30% of companies in 2022 to close to 50%, a figure similar to that of before the pandemic. If you work below the costs of the operations, illegalities are incurred to capture traffic. Finding profitability in this context becomes an almost impossible exercise,” explains Carlos Prades, president of FVET.
Other concerns expressed by the association’s members include high taxation, the cost of new vehicles – particularly electric ones, a lack of HGV parking infrastructure, as well as changes to the V-30 and the AP-7 that have hindered the flow of freight traffic.
Moreover, despite the Spanish Government introducing legislation to clamp down on late-payments and non-payments, FVET argues that excessively long payment terms continue to affect 1 in 4 Valencian companies.
Regarding fuel, Juan Ortega, vice president of FVET, had the following to say:
“In line with what the National Road Transport Committee (CNTC) has claimed, the Valencian carriers have supported the extension of the bonus of cents per litre, which is necessary until the economic situation stabilises. In the long term, we believe that it is essential to consolidate the fuel price review clause in relations with our customers, a mechanism that allows us to pass on the price variation and alleviate the dependence of our activity on fluctuations in professional diesel.”
According to the results of the FVET’s survey, 51% of hauliers have seen their volumes fall recently. Among this group, 6 in 10 say business has fallen by 25%, while 1 in 4 say the fall has been between 25% and 50%. The rest recorded drops between 50% and 75%.
On the other hand, 39% of the hauliers say they have maintained their income levels, with 10% having experienced growth of up to 25%.
“As a consequence of all of the above, 79.1% of transport companies acknowledge that their profits have decreased so far this year. This puts them in a risky situation as far as profitability is concerned,” warns Carlos García, general secretary of FVET.
The Valencian transport industry is nonetheless confident that an economic recovery and political stability will improve the situation at the end of the year, in addition to the fuel subsidies afforded to hauliers.
“Aside from temporary problems, we need to professionalise transport. Only then will we know how to make our operations profitable without having to resort to fraudulent practices that have undermined the sector for years,”concludes FVET’s President, Carlos Prades.
According to Spain’s Ministry of Transport, the Valencian Community is the region that transports the 3rd largest volume of goods in the country by road, behind Andalusia and Catalonia (261 million tonnes).
Photo: Jorge Franganillo, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (image cropped)