What do record fuel prices mean for your company?

When fuel prices go up, the transport industry gets nervous. Are the current record prices a problem only for our sector or the entire economy?

In the text published a month ago on the blog, on the occasion of the so-called In the Mobility Package, we wrote: “Our activities are very closely related to fuel prices and it is their increases that may be more worrying than new legal solutions.” Unfortunately, the black scenario came true and the prices of diesel fuel skyrocketed dramatically as a result of the war in Ukraine.

IMPACT OF FUEL PRICES ON THE TRANSPORT INDUSTRY

We all pay more for fuel, but it is the transport companies that have the loudest complaints about it. Why? The reason for this is hidden in their spending structure. It is estimated that for the average carrier, fuel charges account for up to 40% of all costs! It is easy to calculate that when diesel prices soared by two zlotys, the total operating costs of many companies suddenly increased by 15%.

This is a colossal difference – so big that virtually all companies had to significantly increase their prices in order not to pay extra for transport. To this you need to add a smaller number of drivers from Ukraine. Until recently, there were over 100,000 of them for Polish companies, but today many of them have returned to defend their country, or they cannot return to work because they were mobilized (believe us, we know what we are talking about, because our company employs 15 drivers from the Dnieper River region) .

THE IMPACT OF FUEL PRICES ON YOUR BUSINESS

The current situation has therefore hit carriers hard, but not only them. While the transport industry experiences the effects of the current situation almost immediately, other companies will experience them with some delay. For a carrier, driving at costs is the shortest path to bankruptcy. Its customers must therefore take into account higher prices. So it is only a matter of time when they will raise their prices. So soon we will have to pay more for practically everything.

Therefore, even in sectors that would seem resistant to the effects of high fuel prices, the effects of inflation can be expected. If we add to the fact that before the war in Ukraine it was at a level unprecedented in our country for years, it is easy to imagine a situation in which it reaches a double-digit level.

WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?

From the beginning of our company’s existence, we are eagerly talking about zero-emission transport. Last month, we even presented you with the ambitious assumptions of the Logistech Green Investments project, under which by 2025 we will launch test routes for electric trucks between logistic nodes in the following regions: Warsaw – Berlin (600 km), Stuttgart-Berlin (650 km), Stuttgart – Zurich (250 km) and Stuttgart – Innsbruck (350 km).

Does the current situation change anything in this matter? Absolutely not. We intend to achieve this ambitious goal. We are convinced that rising fuel prices will make more and more people, companies and institutions understand that the independence of transport from hydrocarbons is inevitable. It is not only a matter of concern for the environment and the future of our planet, but also a good way to stabilize the costs of carriers and make their operations more predictable.

Would you like to join the Logistech Green Investments project? Write to us!