The number of transport companies going bankrupt in Europe has been increasing rapidly. Comparing Q3 2023 with Q3 2024, the number of bankruptcy declarations in Lithuania has increased from 113.7 to 162.4. This trend has been observed in many other EU countries: in Germany, the figure has changed from 107.5 to 127.5, in the Netherlands from 210.2 to 275.2 and in France from 190 to 258.6.
The rising number of bankruptcies in Germany is particularly worrying, as it has been continuing since 2020. This Western country is one of Lithuania's most important export markets for services. Germany is expected to have the lowest GDP growth of all G-20 countries in 2025, therefore, the trend of rising bankruptcies can be expected to continue.
The situation is also bad in neighboring Poland. Here, the number of bankruptcies doubled from Q3 2023 to Q3 2024, from 83.7 to 167.3. According to the “Verslo žinios” news portal, 120 companies went bankrupt in the first quarter of 2024, and many company managers started to lay off their employees and reduce their business activities to tackle the financial hurdles. Polish companies account for a quarter of the European road transport market and the consequences of bankruptcy, restructuring and downsizing will soon be felt by all European countries.
A Maersk survey shows that three out of four freight companies faced supply chain problems in 2024. Half of the companies surveyed faced extreme financial difficulties as a result. Continuing geopolitical tensions and the effects of climate change are adding to the supply chain disruptions. This problem, combined with high inflation, consumer distrust and Europe's poor economic situation, is making it harder to do business, thus, transport companies are closing down and filing for bankruptcy.
To avoid bankruptcy, European companies are restructuring by downsizing, laying off employees, and reducing the number of customers they serve. In the first half of 2024, as many as 2,261 Polish transport companies took restructuring measures to combat financial difficulties. Importantly, the reduction in the volume of activity of logistics companies leads to a rise in the cost of services, which in turn makes business conditions more difficult for customers as well. Although positive trends can be expected in 2025, such as increased industry digitalization and decarbonization of the industry, the changes currently observed show that the logistics industry is still facing significant financial difficulties.
Keywords: driver jobs, long-haul driver jobs, bankruptcies, transport industry, decarbonization, digitalization