Global economic crisis hits European road freight transport in the fourth quarter of 2008

European road freight transport fell sharply after the third quarter of 2008. Of the large EU countries, France, Spain and the United Kingdom suffered more than the new Member State Poland. Germany, France and Spain all experienced a decrease in road transport in the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009 and the provisional data for the United Kingdom confirm this trend for 2008. No information is available for Italy. Both national and international transport declined further in the first quarter of 2009. Road transport in Portugal shrank by more than 15% between 2007 and 2008. In contrast, Slovenian road transport increased by 18% between the same years and Estonian road transport rose by nearly 15%. Belgium experienced the highest cabotage penetration at nearly 5%, followed by Denmark, France, Austria and Sweden. Food, beverages and tobacco emerged as the largest commodity group transported by road (measured in tonne-kilometres). Products related to mining and quarrying, mainly building materials, were by far the largest in terms of the tonnage lifted. Specialist haulage companies dominated the supply of transport in all countries, accounting for more than 80% of transport performance (tonne-kilometres).