In addition, the truck toll will be extended to 3.5 tons from 1 July. Elvis therefore recommends freight forwarders and carriers to discuss the effects with customers. A non-representative survey of Elvis freight forwarders published as part of the market report shows that companies are more optimistic about the second half of the year.

Improving key figures in the transportation sector

"After many months of negative reports, it is pleasing that the downward trend has stopped and the key figures in the transportation sector are rising. The effects of the seasonal spring recovery are beginning to show. How sustainable they will be will become apparent after the short weeks in May," says Nikolja Grabowski, CEO of Elvis. Despite the first positive signals from the economy, the situation for freight forwarders remains tense. The supply of loading space on the market has been reduced in recent weeks and months, which is now leading to tight capacities. "Unfortunately, the forecasts made at the turn of the year have come true. Increasing customer tenders are putting additional pressure on freight forwarders," adds Grabowski.

The spring upturn is also reflected in the industrial production figures. The chemical sector in particular saw growth compared to both the same month last year (+9.1%; March 2023) and the previous month (+2%; March 2024). The average for the chemical, mechanical engineering and motor vehicles and parts sectors (+0.5%; March 2024) is also slightly positive. Sentiment among companies is also more optimistic, with the ifo Business Climate (+1.7%), ifo Business Situation (+0.9%) and ifo Business Expectations (+2.5%) all pointing upwards in April 2024 compared to the previous month. "This development shows that we have bottomed out. Although the figures are still far behind those from the previous year, the direction is right," says Grabowski.

Signs of economic recovery

The freight forwarding association's market report also sees a positive trend in the "road freight transport" sector. Ifo business climate (+15.2%) and ifo business situation (+5.3%) have recovered compared to March 2024. This is also reflected in sales expectations. The ifo economic outlook for road freight transport, for example, confirms an improvement of 23.5% compared to March 2024. However, the market report also shows that the increase is still lagging behind that of previous years. "There are increasing signs of an economic recovery in Germany. In the coming weeks, the spring upswing will slow down as usual. The further overall economic development will then show at what level the summer will settle," says Grabowski.