Freight costs are rising, but hauliers aren’t earning any more. “A good rate doesn’t mean a good margin”

Agnieszka Kulikowska-Wielgus, trans.iNFO journalist: Freight rates have increased, yet carriers continue to report falling profitability. Where is the difference going?

Dimitrij Lichaczewski, Head of Sales Region E100: Several factors are often overlooked. The first is the fixed-cost base: drivers, leasing and insurance. The second is the increasingly long payment cycle across the market.

There are also expenses that do not always appear immediately in a simple calculation. These include vehicle downtime, empty repositioning runs and periods when the truck is not used as planned. A rate may look attractive on paper, but once the entire operation is taken into account, the actual margin can be much lower.

Which costs are putting the greatest pressure on carriers? Is fuel once again the main concern?

Fixed costs are rising, including leasing, driver pay and insurance. Road tolls and fuel add to the burden. According to a report from IRU, Upply and Transport Intelligence, the average fuel price in the European Union rose by 27% in the second quarter of 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier.

Fuel remains the most unpredictable item in the budget. Leasing and other fixed expenses are considerably easier to forecast. Fuel prices, by contrast, are influenced by the global oil market and can change rapidly.

Can carriers set a minimum rate per kilometre below which they should reject an international transport job?

A benchmark can be useful, but the right threshold always depends on the company’s operating model.

One industry cost model from August 2026 estimated the cost of running a standard truck combination at approximately PLN 4.65 per kilometre, excluding empty mileage. If around 15% of all kilometres are driven without a load, the required rate for paid kilometres rises to about PLN 5.50.

That figure covers the assumed costs, but it does not necessarily provide a satisfactory margin. This is why looking only at the rate for an individual load can give a misleading picture of profitability.

What does one day of truck downtime actually cost a carrier?

There is no single answer because the figure depends on the type of transport and the company’s cost structure. It is useful to separate the impact into two parts. First come the fixed costs. The truck incurs them whether it is moving or standing still.

The second element is the revenue lost while the vehicle is idle. If a truck spends, for example, five hours idle, it could otherwise have covered a certain number of paid kilometres. The resulting revenue might have contributed towards fixed and operating costs such as fuel and road tolls, while also generating a margin.

Downtime therefore costs more than the direct expenditure incurred during those hours. It also represents revenue that the carrier had no opportunity to earn.

Which costs are most often left out when a freight rate is calculated?

One common omission is the under-utilisation of the vehicle. If the plan assumes that a truck will cover 10,000 kilometres in a month but it actually travels 8,000, the economics of that vehicle immediately deteriorate. Administrative expenses and financing costs also need to be included. Not every operator accounts for the fact that transport must be funded until the customer pays.

Many carriers calculate a rate, add a small margin and overlook empty runs between successive loads, waiting time and the cost of capital tied up while they await payment. Those additional items can gradually consume the margin later on.

Can a strong outbound rate be completely wiped out by the return journey?

Absolutely. A good rate in one direction does not guarantee a healthy margin across the full rotation.

Consider a simple 2,000-kilometre round trip: 1,000 kilometres out and 1,000 back. With average costs of €1.10 per kilometre, the entire operation costs €2,200. If the outbound leg pays €1.60 per kilometre, it generates €1,600 in revenue. To break even across the complete trip, the return journey must bring in another €600.

A return load paying €1 per kilometre would generate a further €1,000, leaving a €400 surplus over the assumed costs. But if the return rate is only €0.60 per kilometre, the entire round trip breaks even. Any rate below that level means the carrier is subsidising the job. The calculation must therefore cover the full rotation, not just the profitability of one leg.

How quickly can carriers pass rising costs on to customers?

Unfortunately, not immediately. Freight prices usually respond to cost changes with a delay. In my experience, the earliest adjustment tends to appear after roughly 30 days. Some contracts include regular adjustment mechanisms, such as fuel surcharges reviewed every one or two weeks, and those arrangements can work well for both sides.

In general, however, the adjustment period is closer to two or three months. It can take that long for rates to reflect new costs to a meaningful extent. Costs are incurred immediately, while the corresponding revenue may arrive much later.

So why does an increase in rates not automatically improve a company’s liquidity?

The first reason is the delay between higher costs and higher revenue. The second is that a strong rate does not, by itself, guarantee a strong margin. Imagine a company operating 10 trucks and generating approximately €150,000 in monthly revenue. Before customers pay, the company must finance fuel, wages, leasing and other operating expenses from its own cash or credit facilities.

If customer payments arrive after 30 days, that already requires considerable financial discipline. Extending the payment period to 60 days increases the need for working capital even further. A company can have plenty of orders and high turnover while still facing serious liquidity pressure.

Does a large carrier have a decisive advantage over a small fleet in these conditions?

A larger fleet primarily makes it easier to diversify the customer portfolio. A big carrier can distribute its vehicles among several customers. If one customer extends payment terms or refuses to index rates, the impact does not immediately threaten the liquidity of the entire business. A small operator has much less room to manoeuvre.

At the same time, a large carrier negotiates with major customers that have significant purchasing power and can exert strong pressure on market rates. Fleet size alone therefore does not guarantee a higher margin.

Does that mean a small company with only a few vehicles is destined to be less profitable?

Not necessarily. At the basic level, small and large carriers buy fuel and pay road tolls according to the same market mechanisms. Both can use solutions that help them plan routes, forecast costs and select more profitable operating options. Financial tools such as factoring, along with solutions that reduce the need to fund day-to-day expenses from company cash, are also available to businesses of different sizes. They can reduce the amount of working capital required.

Competitiveness depends above all on what one of my clients called the “magic of small numbers”. It comes down to how effectively a company works with data: forecasting demand, planning routes, calculating costs precisely and monitoring every kilometre. A good rate is only one part of the equation. Profitability is built through operational discipline.