Damage on several motorways over the weekend again highlighted how vulnerable sections of Germany’s infrastructure can be during periods of extreme heat. For the transport and logistics sector, this is no longer an occasional disruption: each additional closure or diversion makes freight flows harder to manage and increases the day-to-day workload in transport planning.
Freight forwarders are used to operating under pressure
DSLV says last-minute disruption has become routine for many companies.
“The logistics sector has already been tested by bridge closures, damage to rail infrastructure and lock shutdowns. Freight forwarders have to improvise and reroute shipments every day,” said DSLV chief executive Frank Huster.
Against the backdrop of an infrastructure network that already needs major refurbishment, additional heat-related damage has, so far, remained relatively limited. Even so, a broader question is becoming more pressing: how often will these events occur in the future, and what will they mean for supply chains?
Heat stress hits every mode of transport
The association stresses that the impact goes well beyond cracked or buckled road surfaces.
Rail freight can also be affected when extreme temperatures damage tracks, switches, overhead lines and signalling systems.
Inland waterways are another pressure point. Lower water levels on the Rhine, Moselle and Neckar reduce how deeply inland vessels can be loaded. With less cargo per trip, additional capacity is needed to move the same volumes.
Heat has also disrupted seaports. At the Port of Rotterdam last week, container terminals were temporarily closed for safety reasons. DSLV says this forced cancellations of delivery and pick-up slots, creating backlogs in hinterland transport by road, rail and inland shipping.
Motorway operator: older concrete carriageways are most at risk
Autobahn GmbH says heat-related road damage is most common on older, heavily used concrete sections that have already been repaired multiple times. The cause is so-called “blow-ups” — buckling that can occur when concrete expands in high heat and the resulting stress can no longer be absorbed. Modern concrete carriageways built to current standards are significantly less prone to this type of failure.
Since 20 June, Autobahn GmbH has recorded heat damage on numerous long-distance roads, including on the motorways A1, A2, A6, A7, A10, A13, A14, A15, A29, A45, A66 and A93. At times, stretches of the A2, A14 and A15 had to be fully closed. Elsewhere, lanes were shut or speed limits imposed.
Autobahn GmbH says it increases inspections on particularly exposed sections during hot weather. Damaged concrete slabs are removed and initially replaced with asphalt to reopen affected stretches as quickly as possible. Over the longer term, the operator sees full reconstruction of older road surfaces as the most effective way to prevent heat-related failures. That assessment aligns with DSLV’s call to systematically build heat resilience into future infrastructure refurbishment.
Planning and execution get more expensive
For freight forwarders, the most immediate impact of additional closures is organisational. Routes have to be reworked at short notice, vehicles diverted, and delivery times recalculated.
Huster says the growing planning burden is putting pressure on staff and increasingly weighing on companies’ profitability.
Designed for a different climate
DSLV argues that many transport corridors were planned under very different climate assumptions.
“Just like many cities were built decades ago, transport routes were designed without expecting heatwaves above 40°C. That can’t be corrected in just a few years,” Huster said.
That is why, in DSLV’s view, heat must play a much bigger role in the refurbishment of motorways and rail infrastructure.
Industry calls for faster upgrades
DSLV says the federal government and infrastructure operators need to ensure the network becomes more resilient to extreme weather.
“That’s why it’s crucial that heat is technically considered as a standard factor when repairing motorways and rail routes in the future,” Huster said.
In addition to sufficient investment, the association is calling for faster planning and approval processes. Despite the special fund, DSLV believes the current transport budget is too small to cover both the existing refurbishment backlog and the additional demands created by climate change.
Extreme weather is becoming a permanent challenge
For logistics providers, heatwaves are no longer a seasonal inconvenience. While individual incidents can often be managed through diversions, repeated extreme weather raises the bar for planning, dispatch and infrastructure performance.
From DSLV’s perspective, the key issue will be whether roads, railways and waterways are consistently adapted to changing climate conditions. If not, heat-related constraints on freight transport are likely to become more frequent.
