After joining the European Union, however, a factor came into play that had not been sufficiently taken into account in earlier forecasts. It turned out to be a significant increase in the efficiency of fleet utilization. Before May 1, 2004, trucks often had to stand at the western border for a day or two, waiting for customs clearance. As a result, it took a week to complete one round trip to Italy or France and back, and companies incurred significant costs due to vehicle downtime, estimated at as much as PLN 3 billion per year. After the abolition of the customs border and thus unproductive downtime, it became possible to perform even two round trips per week in the western direction. The efficiency of equipment utilization therefore increased on average, according to various estimates, from 20% to 50%, which is not much less than the increase in cargo volume after joining the Union. Since the same vehicle could perform 20% to 50% more transport work in the same amount of time, automatically up to 33% fewer trucks were needed to transport the same amount of goods over the same distances in the same time. As a result, a large oversupply of international road transport services appeared from 2004 onwards. And such an oversupply, like any other, naturally leads to a decrease in the rates paid for performing the same task. In addition, other unfavorable trends began to emerge, such as:
• the real appreciation of the zloty taking place since February 2004. Transport services are settled in euros, so the appreciation of the zloty entailed a decrease in revenue in our currency, in which carriers incur a significant portion of costs, such as taxes or personnel wages, including drivers. On the other hand, however, the appreciation caused a decrease in the cost of purchasing vehicles and equipment in zlotys, as well as a reduction in expenses for leasing or loan installments if they were denominated in foreign currencies
• rising fuel prices throughout 2004. Fortunately, in 2005, this growth was halted due to, among other things, a more stable situation in the Middle East (though not entirely) and the aforementioned real appreciation of the zloty. Nevertheless, fuel costs still account for 30 – 35% of the total costs of our transport companies
• intensification of Western competition, both in transport and logistics, in exports to Poland
• increase in operating costs due to the introduction of new taxes in other countries. Primarily, this concerns the German toll (MAUT), the costs of which were not always successfully passed on to clients in full. Sometimes they were covered by 20 – 50%, in other cases, carriers had to, or still have to, cover them in full
• the flight of some of the most experienced drivers to work in the West, where wages are higher. A very dangerous phenomenon occurred – the widening of the gap between costs and revenues. On one hand, revenues were falling, and on the other, costs were rising. As a result, in 2004, the so-called direct profit per kilometre began to fall drastically.
This profit takes into account only direct costs, i.e., fuel, motorway tolls, daily vignettes, and for Poland, the value of an annual or semi-annual vignette, as well as forwarding fees, parking, communication, driver’s salary, ferries, tunnels, and other costs directly occurring in transport. Such an approach allows for a fairly reliable understanding of the situation of companies, as it does not take into account the general and indirect costs of enterprises in the form of depreciation, financing and insurance costs of vehicles, taxes on transport means and real estate, and other costs resulting from the way a given entity is managed and the scope of its activities – whether it deals only with transport or also with other activities. The value of the profit calculated in this way in the period January – April 2004 was 0.28 EUR/km, May – September 2004 – 0.21 EUR/km; in turn, October – December 2004 was only 0.19 EUR/km. Such a situation meant a real deterioration in the financial condition of many companies. Problems arose with payments of leasing or loan installments and covering other costs. Often, social security contributions (ZUS) for drivers were not paid, and some, especially those with older fleets, to reduce expenses, looked more and more willingly at heating oil instead of diesel. Others, in order to obtain any funds, agreed to drive at very low, even dumping rates. However, such a policy proved to be good only in the short term. In the long run, if it did not lead to bankruptcy earlier, it significantly limited the development potential of the company applying it, including the ability to replace the fleet in the future. This policy was implemented to the greatest extent by small, family-owned entities that found it difficult to negotiate potential cost indexation with clients. The largest carriers, with dozens or hundreds of sets, coped much better with the problems.