European Transport Update: Road Freight Gains Ground as Rail Struggles

29 July 2026 · EN · NL · DE · FR

Road Freight Widens Its Lead Over Rail

A Union TLF report published on 17 July 2026 confirms what many carriers already feel on the ground: road transport keeps gaining share in European inland freight. Rail and inland waterway combined have lost 4.1 percentage points of market share over the past decade, and the gap keeps widening.

The data lines up with a separate report from the EU Agency for Railways (ERA), which found that average freight transfer times at cross-border rail sections exceeded one hour in 2025, with exit delays topping 90 minutes on more than half of the routes analysed. For shippers who still route freight by rail, that means padding schedules with significant buffer time, or accepting that road remains the more predictable option for time-sensitive loads.

For carriers, the trend is good news for volumes but bad news for capacity. As shippers shift more freight back to trucks, competition for available capacity, especially on key European corridors, keeps tightening.

Alpine Closures and Port Delays Add to the Squeeze

Road capacity is also being tested from other directions. Switzerland's Gotthard Tunnel, Europe's busiest Alpine freight crossing, continues its scheduled night closures for maintenance through the summer. Truckers using the A2 corridor are being pushed onto alternative routes such as the A13 via Chur and Bellinzona, adding time and mileage to Alpine transits.

Further north, port congestion is pushing more freight onto the road network. Hamburg is seeing waits of up to 2.1 days, and Rotterdam up to 72 hours. Low water levels on the Rhine are cutting barge loads by as much as 45%, forcing more cargo onto trucks and tightening FTL capacity across Germany.

At the same time, Germany's stationary border controls with the Netherlands continue to slow cross-border traffic. Unlike the lighter mobile checks the Netherlands introduced in December 2024, Germany's fixed checkpoints add delays of up to 30 minutes per truck, across roughly 375,000 daily crossings. Combined with the port and Rhine disruptions, this leaves German road capacity under sustained pressure from multiple directions at once.

What this means in practice: carriers running Alpine, Rhine-corridor or Dutch-German routes should build extra buffer time into schedules and communicate realistic ETAs to customers. Shippers booking capacity on these lanes should expect tighter availability and plan bookings further in advance.

DHL to Acquire Baltic Parcel Operator Venipak

Away from infrastructure, the market is also consolidating. DHL eCommerce has announced plans to acquire Venipak, a Baltic parcel operator, aiming to build a fully owned presence across the region by combining Venipak's local network with DHL's own operations.

For carriers and shippers active in the Baltic states, the move signals further consolidation in last-mile and parcel delivery, potentially reshaping pricing and service options in a market that has so far relied heavily on local operators.

What Carriers and Shippers Should Watch

Together, these developments point to the same underlying story: road freight is absorbing more volume just as several factors, Alpine maintenance closures, port and river disruptions, and border controls, squeeze available capacity. Building schedule flexibility, keeping documentation clean for cross-border checks, and watching consolidation moves like DHL's Baltic acquisition will help operators stay ahead of a tightening market.

Sources

• Road freight keeps gaining share as European rail freight declines
• EU cross-border rail freight punctuality remains weak, ERA report finds
• Gotthard Tunnel night closures continue disrupting Alpine truck routes
• Port congestion and low Rhine levels push more cargo onto Europe's roads
• Permanent German border checks continue to slow Dutch-German truck traffic
• DHL eCommerce to acquire Baltic parcel operator Venipak