Consolidation in European Road Transport: Myths, Realities, and Future Outlook

The European road transport market and its carrier landscape is on one hand characterized by a blend of large multinational logistics conglomerates which possess extensive networks and use advanced technological capabilities, alongside regional specialists, whose strength lies not in scale but in the granular knowledge of local markets and strong bonds with customers, rooted in families and traditions.

However, on the other hand a significant characteristic of the European land transport sector is the overwhelming presence of small and micro-enterprises. Consider this: in 2022, more than 90% of enterprises in logistics within the EU employed fewer than 10 people. This prevalence of SMEs indicates a highly atomized market, where the blanket consists of a few large players, a strong cohort of focused mid-size carriers and a myriad of small carriers or individual owner-operators, often highly specialized and decentralized.

This complex structure sparked interest in my mind and I decided to analyze the structure of transport providers active on the Transporeon platform, focusing on those performing transport services under their own names. A common question arising in the context of platform adoption and evolution is how it facilitates consolidation and impacts medium and small enterprises. Additionally, I wanted to explore the evolution of predominantly asset-based logistics service providers compared to those with a heavy forwarding business model, a question I receive often in discussions with customers.

I started with examining sizes of the carriers and their development on the Transporeon platform. The following graph clusters carriers by size and compares their share over the last five years. This analysis focuses on consistent carriers, allowing us to identify whether a cluster gains or loses market share compared to its peers.