In recent years French international road freight transport has been undergoing a loss of influence within Europe while traffic has increased and great manoeuvres are taking place since the opening of the European Union towards East. Some of the French transporters are then focusing back on theFrench market showing a worrying loss in competitiveness. On the contrary, German and Dutch companies are increasing their shares in the French market and have reorganized themselves within Europe to face eastern Europe competition. What can be learnt from German and Dutch experiences to be used towards a renewal of French road transportation in the international field? On the basis of a comparison of neighbouring countries' driving costs and road freight transport structure, a synthesis of two recent studies ordered by the Comite National Routier (CNR) will first propose a cooperation with German or Dutch companies in order to propose a win-win model basedon exchange of competences. The years 2007 and 2008 have been in France abusy period in terms of studies, debates and propositions, in order to understand, accompany and relaunch international road freight transport in France, in particular as far as its engagement towards international markets is concerned, one that has been undergoing a downfall these last few years. Within the framework of the actions undertaken by the Conseil d'Analyse Strategique, many reports have been published that offer a full analysisof road freight transport in France but also internationally. Within the framework of market intelligence missions and prospective analysis of the sector led by the Comite National Routier (CNR) some investigations were undertaken in 2007- 2008 on road freight transport and driving costs in Germany and Holland by the author. For the covering abstract see ITRD E145999
Abstract