Europa finds the perfect Portuguese partner


18


Europa Road has signed a partnership with Portuguese transport company, Torrestir. It will handle distribution for Europa across Portugal, as well as line-haul in both directions between the two countries. Services will operate four times per week between Dartford and Portugal, and three per week between Portugal and Dartford. Europa worldwide group


operations director, Dan Cook, commented: “Both companies’ background and values are very much aligned, providing a first class, personal service for our customers. Torrestir’s own distribution


system, strong


position in the Portuguese market with a high level of existing traffic, and a focus


and desire to develop the UK market, made the company a clear choice as the optimum partner. “Portugal is not the largest for


market the UK, but


the Portuguese economy is strong, enjoying good levels of economic growth largely


thanks to a strong


manufacturing base. “Historically, Portugal was a


market with many specialists, but we must ensure that our overall European product is strong and comprehensive, by working


with market the best


partners in each country, and developing


leading


services to and from each country. “We are starting with four


strengthen the reliability for our customers. The product we now have in the market place


No sunshine in Spain as country faces driver shortfall


The UK is not the only country having to grapple with a shortage of


transport


drivers. The sector


Spanish is


facing


road a


profound shortage of drivers, according to figures released on 3 October by the International Road Transport Union (IRU). A survey conducted by IRU


among 202 truck, bus and coach companies from across the country, revealed that the shortfall of drivers stands at 20%. This data mirrors a broader survey IRU conducted throughout Europe in March 2019, which showed a similar


trend across several


countries including the UK, Germany, Belgium, Norway and Romania. However, in Spain, the acute


shortage looks set to escalate in the coming years, with IRU’s figures showing demand for drivers set to increase by 18% by 2020. With recruitment into the industry stalling, this means the driver shortage could reach 30% within a year if not addressed immediately. IRU’s manager of social affairs


Esther Visser, commented: “The situation in Spain is part of a wider trend we are seeing across Europe. There are simply not enough drivers to meet demand and the problem is accelerating rapidly as experienced, older professionals leave the industry and are not being replaced in large enough numbers. This is one of


the most urgent issues facing the road transport industry, which is a lifeblood of Spanish mobility and the economy. If we do not reverse the tide soon there will be knock- on effects on our capacity to move goods and people around the country, which will impact many millions of people, businesses and communities.” The situation in Spain, overall,


is probably no worse than that for Europe as a whole, where the driver shortage is currently around 20% and is set to increase by 18% next year. However in Spain the current minimum age to become a freight driver is 21, while in other European countries (such as Belgium) young people can enter the profession as early as 18 years old. However, Spain has not enacted the necessary derogation from EU legislation. While a three-year wait aſter


age 18 to enter the profession may sound a small thing, it does mean that people leaving school or college enter professions other than driving and the industry faces an uphill task in trying to then attract them away when they do reach age 21, Visser points out. “If you have a high age to enter the profession, you miss an entire generation,” she says. IRU’s research also shows that


female drivers make up just 3% of the country’s commercial driver workforce – freight and bus - and young people (aged 25 and under)


make up just 5%. The average Spanish professional driver is now 46 years old and male. Together with a number of


partners, the IRU has also set up a Women in Transport Network, aimed at increasing the number of women in the transport sector and their representation at all working levels as well as to promote transport as an attractive field for women to work in. It will contribute to incentives such as creating awards for female drivers, as well as rewarding best performing companies for recruitment, inclusiveness and retention.


opportunity to capitalise on future opportunities and build our position in the Portuguese/


Spain is no worse than the rest of


Europe in failing to recruit female drivers. In fact, the proportion of women in the profession there is 3% as against 2% for Europe as a whole. But the barriers to recruitment are the same – a perception of long hours and inadequate and insecure parking places. IRU has partnered with the European arm of the International Transport Workers Federation to persuade the Commission to make better truck parking a


priority. Encouragingly, the


European Transport Commission has said it will publish a call for funding to create more safe and secure


parking areas across


Europe, Visser adds. Previous IRU research showed that 79% of drivers across Europe


groupage departures per week from the UK. This is way above the ‘sector norm’ for Portugal, and will therefore allow us to enhance transit times and


Issue 7 2019 - Freight Business Journal


will continue to grow as the commercial teams in Europa and Torrestir find this service reliable and competitive. Ultimately, Europa Road would like a structured daily service in both directions. This is something we will strive towards in the future.” He


continued: “We see this partnership as a great


UK market, ensuring we offer our customers access to the best products, operated by the best people delivering the best service.” The new partner’s general


manager Luis Torres, added: “With nearly 60 years of experience, Torrestir has a deep understanding of the logistics landscape in Portugal and are constantly adapting to market needs. We have our own domestic distribution system in place, and so can confidently offer quality, control and track and trace data return. “On the other hand, our


customers are increasingly demanding the same service level across Europe, leading us to improve our network with partners such as Europa which shares the same vision and goals.” Europa Road has no intention


to add further hub destinations in Portugal as Torrestir, has


believe the difficulty of attracting women to the profession is one of the top reasons for the driver shortage. A similar number, 76%, believe that a perception that the industry has poor working conditions is deterring large numbers from applying, while 77% think long periods away from home deter many from entering the profession. Visser continued: “It is clear


that the industry has a serious challenge when it comes to attracting women


and young


people – these two groups together make up the majority of the Spanish workforce and yet the clear minority within the road transport sector. Changing the perception of the industry among these groups should be


///IBERIA


its own distribution network, “which is a huge asset and from its multiple platforms has excellent coverage of the whole country,” says Cook. He added that, just one week


into the new co-operation, Europa Road’s export volume was up 14% for 2019 against the same period in 2018. Europa Road also


serves


Spain, which it treats as a broadly separate market with different partners and each country served directly. It


operates three daily


connections to and from Spain in partnership with Turkish- owned Ekol Logistics, a company it began working with at the beginning of 2017. Cook comments: “We have seen joint volumes increase significantly. For the same period in 2019 compared to 2018, we have an increase in joint consignments of 35% and 22% in chargeable kilo terms.”


a top priority if we are to reverse this trend. But doing so will require action from all stakeholders connected


to the industry,


including governments, local authorities, and social, industry and educational partners.” IRU has worked with its


members to create an action plan of short, medium and long-term measures. It has launched a joint initiative the


with European Shippers


Council (ESC) to develop common principles aimed at improving the treatment of drivers at delivery sites. IRU has also established an expert group to address driver training legislation and its effectiveness, the conclusions and recommendations from which are expected early in October.


Shortsea shipping line Samskip has launched a new, direct weekly service between Portugal and the UK, introducing its own vessel operating between Tilbury, Lisbon, Leixões and Rotterdam. The chartered 1,000teu


ship will sustain a UK-Portugal transit times of five days, while continuing


to offer four-times


weekly services from Rotterdam to Leixões and weekly to Lisbon via space booked with other carriers. Samskip expects the upgrade increase


to its Portugal-UK


volumes by 30-40%, according to Samskip trade manager Iberia, Lisa Westerhuis. “We have


been building our multimodal presence in Portugal for over a decade through shortsea, rail and last mile road services. Now, Samskip is responding to growing UK-Portugal demand with


its


own ship: when new capacity is required, we seek solutions where reliability and efficiency is in our own hands.” At Noatum Maritime Services,


Samskip’s agency in Portugal, international commercial managing director, Luis Paz da Silva says that 45ſt long containers are key in persuading Portuguese importers and exporters to switch away from road haulage. “The 45-footer is especially


competitive with trailers at distances of up to 200km from the ports, including cross-border,” he says, estimating that the 45ſt market in Portugal today is four times what it was 10 years ago. Over the past decade, Samskip


has built strong relations with Portuguese exporters to the UK, with food and drinks businesses a specific target for the new direct service. Southbound, the European Samskip multimodal network


that feeds shortsea


links out of Rotterdam was being boosted by Norwegian exports in transit aſter the integration of the company’s 2017 acquisition Nor Lines, says Paz da Silva.


“People are paying attention to


shortsea for door-to-door services as never before and the timing is right to introduce a higher quality direct shortsea link. We also envisage this route as a platform for value added services, such as cross-docking and LCL, and a new opportunity to work hand in hand with Deepsea carriers.” Westerhuis points out that, as


well as aligning with EU transport policy aspirations, the shortsea option brings


significant CO2


emissions savings over road. With continuing doubts over


Brexit, Samskip has strengthened customer services in Portugal and its UK customs team.


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