Freight News Going up
Page 9
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
AFTER "bottoming out" at the end of last year, the international road transport market is poised for a recovery in 1982 says a new European Commission forecast, reports our Brussels correspondent.
Goods traffic between member states by road, rail and waterway declined by 0.4 per cent in 1980 and the estimated fall last year was 2.7 per cent.
"Business-opinion surveys among road and waterway carriers indicated considerable uncertainty about the level of transport activity, utilisation of stock cash flow problems and investment trends," says the report.
For this year, the EEC expects a rise of just under one per cent with a total tonnage of 3,422m carried by road, rail and water.
The signs, however, are that all the increased traffic will be carried by road, and an increase of at least two per cent in activities is forecast.
Current expectations are that rail traffic may drop by one per cent this year, while the tonnage carried by water will remain unchanged.