The figures from Institut Transport routier et Logistique Belgique (ITLB) were published in its latest estimates about the expected costs of transportation for 2023. According to the calculations, the cost of international transportation will increase by 12.19-13.41% depending on the destination country.
The figures show that national transportation costs will also rise similarly; a 13.28% increase is expected regarding general transport and a 13.11% rise is estimated to come for the parcel delivery sector.
ITLB calculates the development of road freight costs every month and provides a separate estimation for the costs of national transportation and international transport (with specific data for transport to and from Germany, France, Italy and Spain).
The estimations are based on the average change of the most important cost items as well as that of the cost price in the form of indices. This indicator is one of the tools recognized by the government during negotiations relating to possible revisions of transport rates in Belgium.
When estimating the expected freight transport costs, ITLB takes into account a number of predictable factors (such as wage indexation), but also unpredictable factors, such as the changes in fuel prices.
Among many other factors, the reason for the huge increase to be expected could be explained by the following:
- the more than 10% salary indexation in Belgium,
- a 25% increase in the purchase price of vehicles,
- an increase in the German road toll in 2023,
- a 2% increase in the road toll in France, Italy and Spain,
- and the indexation of the road toll in the three Belgian regions,
- an increase in premiums for CMR;
- an estimate of the congestion costs, calculated on the basis of the average of the last 5 years.