Road freight survey: Operators predict 80% drop in income during lockdown

According to the results of a weekly survey conducted by the Road Freight Association (RFA), road freight operators are predicting that they will experience an income loss of 80% for the lockdown period, which started on 26 March 2019. This figure has increased by 10% - in last week's survey, respondents indicated a 70% loss in income.

According to the survey, less than 30% of companies’ fleets are currently active. "Only vehicles transporting essential goods are on the road," confirmed the RFA’s Chief Executive Gavin Kelly. In addition, 25% of trucking companies’ staff are working on site.

"Our survey shows a general picture of what is happening in the road freight industry – with some operators having totally closed down (as they do no essential cargo transport), whilst others are operating anywhere between a shutdown to roughly 80% of capacity,” said Kelly. “That means that they have no income to meet their financial commitments – salaries, operational maintenance, financial agreements and other costs related to operating a business.

Looking ahead, 28% of survey respondents said that they would become fully operational "immediately" after lockdown. A further 33% said it would take them two weeks, with another 10% indicating it would take them two weeks to one month.

"It is truly worrying that – on the other side of this lockdown – we will see less transport operators than what we started with a month ago," concluded Kelly.