European freight rates rise amid tight capacity | trans.info

An increase in the number of loads, a decrease in available capacity, and rising rates. At the turn of the second and third quarters of 2025, the European road freight market underwent dynamic changes linked to both seasonal and structural factors.

In May and June 2025, the European road transport market was in a state of dynamic transformation. On the one hand, there was a significant increase in the number of loads posted on many routes, and on the other, a reduction in available transport capacity and a drop in carriers’ interest in certain directions.

This led to a steady increase in rates, which, from April onwards, affected all major routes across the EU. These conclusions were drawn by analysts from the Polish Road Transport Institute (PITD) in their report “Transport in Europe. Trends, data, analyses.”

The second quarter saw an increase in the number of loads on 13 of the 18 routes analysed by PITD in May and on 10 in June. Particularly notable were the following routes:

Particularly significant were increases on export routes from Poland, where July marked the first month of growth in a long time. For example, on the Poland → Germany route, July ended with a 10% increase, and on Poland → Netherlands, with 12%.