Although freight volumes slumped in October (-4 %) and November (-28 %) compared to the extremely strong September (+70 %), the industry recovered significantly in December. Compared to the previous month, freight entries rose by a further 18%. This growth is particularly striking, as December once again surpassed November 2020 with almost 1.5 million freights. A striking figure, as the last month of the year is usually weaker.

Previous year's figures overtaken despite corona

If the quarterly figures are compared to the previous year, this results in 53% more freight entries in the last quarter of 2020 than in 2019, despite the October and November figures. As in September 2020, for example, the 10 million freight entries were exceeded again in October. October, November and December also show the strongest year-on-year changes for 2020 as a whole. Expressed in figures, the previous year's quarterly comparison with 2019 is as follows October 43%, November 47% and December 76% more freight offers than in the same quarter of 2019.

Recovery effects despite high volatility

The overall picture of the Timocom Transport Barometer for the past year shows a high level of volatility coupled with considerable recovery effects in some cases. The various lockdown phases in Europe are a key factor here. One example of this: Freight offers for tours from Germany to France fell by 84% in April and 67% in May compared to 2019. Following the easing of the strict lockdown in mid-May, demand soared in June and even increased by 16% compared to the same month last year. Overall, the number of freight entries increased by 8 % in 2020 compared to 2019 - despite the massive fluctuations caused by the pandemic.

Germany also has a strong December

The trend for Germany is similar to the Europe-wide figures. From October to December 2020, domestic freight volumes were even 9% higher than in the previous quarter and 62% higher than in the comparative months of October to December 2019. A comparison with the previous month shows the following development: October -8 %, November -38 % and December an increase of 38 % compared to the previous month. For the comparative quarter of 2019, the following picture emerges for domestic German freight: October 53 %, November 47 % and December an increase of 89 %. December, which is usually weak, even exceeded the strongest month of the previous year (September 2019) by almost 1 % in terms of total freight volumes.

Individual countries are catching up again

The pandemic has also had a clear impact on the individual country ratios of the Timocom Transport Barometer. The overall trend here is also that December ended the year as a very strong month. Imports from Austria to Germany, for example, were particularly noticeable, increasing by an average of around 175% in the last quarter of 2020 compared to the last quarter of 2019 (October 114%, November 235%, December 175%). The transport barometer also recorded strong growth in freight volumes from Italy to Germany (October 58%, November 128%, December 139%). This is presumably due to the drastic events that took place in Italy in the wake of the first coronavirus wave. However, trade between Italy and Germany got back on track in the second half of the year. What was lost in the second quarter was made up as the year progressed.