Global Supply Chains Under Strain: A Look at Shifting Tides in US & European Road Transport

The impact of continual disruption to global supply chains which have become a recurring theme since the pandemic era and continue to play a major role in trade and transport and trends in Europe and the USA tend to impact the UK transport sector sooner or later. The US trucking industry is arguably going through one of the biggest changes in generations; having survived an extremely long downturn, followed by the current uncertainty with tariffs changing the transport demands almost weekly, a recent report reveals that many trucking companies are stating that they are operating at their operational ceiling in capacity.

The report summarises that the North American road transport industry is racing ahead rather than idling but there are so many constraints its difficult for business to respond to the unrelenting demand and economic volatility. Diesel cost in some states such as California is increasing significantly due to environmental taxes, the labour shortages are now being exacerbated by the recent crackdown on workers without correct paperwork and new English-speaking requirements for drivers. The current 90 day pause on tariffs is about to end and there is huge uncertainty to container volumes at key US ports, this is leading to many long-standing container hauliers leaving the industry, somewhat reminiscent of what is happening in the UK container haulier sector.

Meanwhile in Europe we continue to see that hauliers with economies of scale continue to dominate international cross border work. Lithuanian haulier Girteka, has signed a major deal with Volvo Trucks to purchase 2,000 brand-new heavy-duty vehicles, marking Europe’s largest single truck order this year. The purchase is part of the company’s ambition to keep its fleet modern, efficient, and ready to meet customer needs. The 2,000 trucks, delivered throughout 2025, will help Girteka renew its fleet – making it, “more reliable, flexible, and better equipped to serve future growing expectations”. This order bucks the trend in Europe, in Q1 new truck registrations fell by 16.6% with Germany, France and Spain all reporting double-digit declines.

The Girteka deal is wrapped up by Volvo Financial and Service contracts, and trucks come with many new innovations to improved driver comfort and safety, such as camera monitoring systems and a 5% increase in fuel economy.

In the UK, the importance of the work being done at our ports by Border Force was highlighted by two significant successes this week, firstly the largest ever consignment of cocaine, reportedly worth £96 million, was intercepted on a container ship from Panama at London Gateway Port. At Dover a Lithuanian registered truck was stopped and found to be carrying firearms, ammunition and drugs worth approximately £4.5 million, both highlighting the need for all involved in transport to be vigilant and report anything suspicious to authorities.