Europe’s biggest trucker says demand good despite high fuel cost

There’s little sign in the trucking industry that Europe’s soaring diesel prices are prompting customers to reconsider their deliveries.

“Demand stays at healthy levels,” said Simonas Bartkus, a spokesman for Girteka Logistics, Europe’s largest trucking company. There’s usually a lag in any impact from rising diesel prices, he said.

Europe’s diesel market hit a record high after Russia—a major supplier to the continent—invaded Ukraine. While the continent’s futures market has since cooled off somewhat, prices at the pump remain extremely high in the U.K. and European Union.

Even though transportation costs could increase by as much as 35%, the Lithuania-based company is experiencing double-digit growth in its business, Bartkus said last month.

Girteka has agreements with many customers that take fluctuations in the diesel price—including the recent jump—into consideration. And in the case of customers without that agreement, the company is trying to change contracts so floating prices are included, allowing them to pass on the high cost of diesel.

Trucking accounted for almost 40% of Europe’s diesel demand in 2019, according to the International Energy Agency.