The ongoing migrant crisis is causing more and more problems to freight forwarders.
Last week, workers at the Port of Calais went on strike and set off a standstill for two days. They demanded more personnel as they are confronted with increasing numbers of migrants at the port.
For now, they suspended their strike and are in negotiations with their management.
Also, new border checks within Europe cause longer transit times and higher costs for hauliers. As the flows of refugees force several countries to implement border checks and closures, long backlogs of trucks are caused at major international freight corridors.
Considering the increase in trade, shortfalls in already tight capacity pushes prices. This is why some operators are thinking about introducing new fees to compensate their loss in earnings.
In the bigger picture, those problems have tremendous impact on European competitiveness.