DIARIO DEL PUERTO COLD CHAIN LOGISTICS - FRUIT LOGISTICA 2022 24 ”fundamentally due to the volatility of fuel prices and the dramatic increases that have taken place in the last few months”. According to Pérezcarro, on top of this, there is also a significant increase in wage costs due to inflation. In any case, ”this year’s results are going to be bad, because the increases in costs are not easy to pass on to transport prices and if, on top of this, economic growth starts to slow, then the situation does not look good at all”. Therefore, in the light of this uncertainty, ”it is not a good time to think about expanding fleets, as we must also take into account the shortage of professional drivers and the additional problem of a lack of vehicles”. CHALLENGES AHEAD For Pérezcarro, the most important challenge ”is to enforce the application of the agreements reached between the National Road Transport Committee and the Government, which have been reflected in the recently approved Royal Decree”. In other words, to implement these new rules in transport hiring, fundamentally with regard to loading and unloading, revised transport prices according to fuel costs, the demand for compensation for stoppages and, of course, the payment of transport within the legally established deadlines. In addition to these structural demands , Manuel Pérezcarro highlighted that the sector ”must continue to fight to ensure the di sappearance of the pal let exchange system that is so harmful to us”. This year’s results are going to be bad, because the increases in costs are not easy to pass on to transport prices and if, on top of this, economic growth starts to slow, then the situation does not look good at all Manuel Pérezcarro General Secretary of CETM Frigorífico and FROET FACTS AND FIGURES Exports of fruit and vegetable produce from Spain to the rest of Europe by road reached 16.3 million tonnes last year, compared to 15.8 million tonnes in 2020. 16.3 MILLION TONNES WATCHING CHANGE FROM THE WINGS Temperature-controlled goods transport companies see changes in consumer habits as tangential. ”The influence of e-commerce in the procurement of products that require controlled temperature, such as food, is still in its infancy”, says Manuel Pérezcarro, General Secretary of CETM Frigoríficos and FROET, since it is usually the seller, either directly at its shops or platforms, which prepares this type of orders and delivers them, either with its own vehicles or with carriers’ vehicles. ”Themost relevant example is Amazon, which already offers this type of service in some cities in the United States, but this has led it to acquire a supermarket chain”, explains the General Secretary of CETM Frigorífico. ”Outsourcing this type of service so that it is provided by the transport company itself is very complicated”, although Pérezcarro acknowledges that the delivery of temperature-controlled products in cities, mainly pharmaceutical products, ”has been a reality formany years and there are specialist transport companies that have the necessary facilities to prepare and deliver orders”. Road transport
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