DIARIO DEL PUERTO The protagonists 23 Road transport RAÚL TÁRREGA The other major link in the logistics cold chain is road transport. Although both air and rail compete for a part of the market, the fact is that a large part of Spanish fruit and vegetable exports that end up in the European market are transported by road. In 2021, temperature-controlled hauliers have managed to gain some leverage, albeit with many difficulties, and the domestic and international scenario is not going to make life easy for them. After two years of pandemic, the volume of transport operations has increased slightly compared to 2020, as Manuel Pérezcarro, the General Secretary of CETM Frigoríficos and FROET, explains. This is because exports of fruit and vegetable products from Spain to the rest of Europe ”increased by almost 3% in 2021, from 15.8 million tonnes in 2020 to 16.3 million tonnes”. This increase in trade means that last year the number of companies and vehicles did not fall in global terms. In fact, ”there was a slight increase in both cases”. Just like cold storage facilities and logistics operators, the road haulage sector does not dare to make any forecasts for the end of the year, ROAD TRANSPORT STRIVES FOR SURVIVAL (ONCE AGAIN) Current fuel prices and their volatility will shape the sector’s performance this year. It is not a good time to think about expanding fleets, as wemust also take into account the shortage of professional drivers and the additional problemof a lack of vehicles
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