The first quarter of 2021 gives every reason for confidence. According to the Timocom Transport Barometer, which is based on freight entries from 46 European countries, the first quarter exceeded the previous year's figure by a total of 58% after a quiet start. More than 10 million freight entries were made in the quarter as a whole compared to the same period in 2020.

The year began with a seasonal decline in January 2021 compared to December 2020 (-16%). However, compared to the same month last year, there was an overall increase of almost 1 million freight entries - even before the coronavirus pandemic had an initial impact on the economy and led to a Europe-wide lockdown. This year-on-year high even intensified in February 2021, which saw more than 3 million freight entries compared to 2020. At the end of the first quarter, this figure increased by almost 6 million more freight entries in March than in the same month in 2020. In figures, the first quarter of 2021 compared to 2020 is as follows: January 13%, February 80% and March 91% more freight offers. Overall, the first quarter of 2021 was 58% stronger than the same quarter in 2020.

However, March last year marked a turning point due to the Europe-wide lockdown, which largely led to a standstill in production operations and, with the exception of food retail, to a slump in delivery volumes. A comparison of the number of freight entries in March 2021 with those in March 2019, i.e. a period without an exceptional situation, shows that the increase in freight entries in March 2021 is still above average at 138%. As a result, the number of submissions has not only recovered from crisis-related fluctuations, but has even increased compared to pre-crisis levels.

Compared to the figures from 2020, domestic traffic in Germany developed extremely positively at the beginning of the year: January 5%, February 104% and March 114% more freight entries in 2021. The development within Germany during the first quarter of 2021 thus mirrored that of the European market as a whole. January starts with a slight increase in the number of freight entries, which increases massively in February and continues at a high level in March 2021. This trend gives hope for a strong second quarter, provided that no hard lockdown is imposed that affects manufacturing companies.

A similar picture emerges for Polish road freight transport. Measured against the figures from 2020, freight volumes in the Polish domestic market have increased rapidly over all three months: 50% in January, 80% in February and 146% in March 2021. This suggests that economic growth in Poland is picking up speed again. According to data from the national statistics office GUS, Poland has come through the crisis year 2020 with a comparatively mild decline in GDP of 2.8%. With this tailwind and the significant recovery effects in the first quarter, a continuation of this trend is also possible in the second quarter of 2021.

France also showed a noticeable upward trend in the domestic market in the first quarter. The year began with an 11% year-on-year decline in freight volumes on the French domestic market. February saw a noticeable improvement of 35%. Finally, the quarter ends with a significant increase of 94% in freight entries compared to March 2020.

The sharp decline in available cargo space in the first quarter of 2021 is striking, with falls of -3% to -25% recorded in some cases. This negative trend is the result of the high demand for transportation. It is to be expected that the situation will worsen as a result of the "Ever Given" accident. Unless a hard lockdown is imposed, the demand for road freight transport will continue to rise and free loading space will be even less available as a result. "The mass of goods now heading for the ports will not all be able to be transported promptly. In addition, the capacity of loading space for onward carriage is limited. This will have a significant impact on the availability of transport capacity in Europe over the next few weeks," says Gunnar Gburek, Company Spokesman at Timocom, analyzing the consequences of the accident.

Since 2009, the FreightTech company Timocom has been using the transport barometer to analyze the development of transport supply and demand in 46 European countries on the freight exchange integrated into the Smart Logistics System. More than 135,000 users generate up to 800,000 international freight and loading space offers every day. The system helps over 45,000 Timocom customers to achieve their logistics goals smartly, safely and easily.