Problems in the transport industry – debts to banks and contractors
As late as the end of last year, it might have seemed that the overall credit situation in the transportation industry was slowly stabilizing. After a period of raging pandemonium, there was a brief pause in the turmoil over repayment of obligations to banks and contractors. During this time, a sizable portion of trucking companies significantly reduced their debts. However, this lasted only until January 2022.
From then on, the transport industry’s arrears began to grow almost linearly. Data from BIG InfoMonitor’s Debtor Register shows that in the first quarter of this year alone, the amount of debt in the entire sector rose to PLN 2.5 billion. Thus, it amounts to almost 16% more than in the previous twelve months.
Problems with payers and negative forecasts for the industry
Information gathered in BIG InfoMonitor’s Debtor Register shows that the number of payers deemed unreliable, i.e. suspended or closed, increased from 33,000 to 36,000. At this point, the data may be incomplete, due to the fact that it has not been updated following the outbreak of war in Ukraine.
The reason for the ever-increasing debts and payment delays in the transportation sector is primarily due to the previously mentioned invasion of our neighbors. In particular, carriers operating in the eastern market for both passengers and freight have suffered. The current international situation has more drastic consequences. A shortage of Ukrainian drivers in the TSL industry and galloping fuel prices are just individual components contributing to the deterioration of the respective economic sector. On top of all this, there are further regulations, resulting from the EU’s newly introduced Mobility Package. We are talking, for example, about the new system of remunerating drivers.
It is estimated that the current volatility in the markets may continue for some time to come. Many transport companies, however, are hoping for an improvement, although various scenarios are increasingly being considered. Statistically, as many as 4 out of 10 transport companies interviewed say they are even considering bankruptcy with the prolonged period of uncertainty.
Trouble in passenger transportation
Looking at the overall debt of transport industries, passenger transport companies do not have the largest backlog at all. Instead, it’s worth noting that their number is much smaller than freight transport companies. Looking deeper into the data on passenger carriers, we can find frightening information there. Liabilities to banks and counterparties at this point amount to PLN 347 million, while as recently as the end of last year they reached “only” PLN 146 million. Contrary to appearances, the number of indebted companies has increased slightly, from 5 thousand to 5.4 thousand activities. This gives an average of 65 thousand zlotys of debt per company.
List of debts for road transport
The transport industry is associated by most only with road carriers. However, it is easy to guess that the total amount of debt includes all trucking companies, regardless of the method of delivering cargo. Nevertheless, the biggest problem is still seen in road transportation.
Data collected from the BIG InfoMonitor Debtor Register shows that more than 2,200 new road carriers have joined the ranks of the indebted since the beginning of this year. Adding them up with the companies already appearing in the registry, we obtain an impressive number of 25.6 thousand entities in the negative sense. The total value of their debts exceeds PLN 1.7 billion, which gives a dismal average debt of PLN 67 thousand per company.