Anger of farmers: road hauliers, first victims of blockages

This lasts for more than ten days. Road hauliers, penalized by the blockages of farmers everywhere in France, are starting to find it slow. Of course, they welcomed with satisfaction early Friday afternoon the call, following announcements by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, from the two most important agricultural unions (the FNSEA and the Young Farmers) to suspend the movement. . To evacuate the highways and national roads so that traffic can return to normal.

But they know that these grassroots actions are not completely controlled by the FNSEA and its allies. And they hold their breath to see if, on the ground, farmers follow the instructions issued by their representatives. “We recognize the importance of the demands of farmers who are also essential for our country,” explains TLF (Union of Transport and Logistics Companies of France) in a press release. However, we demand effective freedom of movement for carriers and the safety of people and goods as soon as possible. This is the sine qua non condition to avoid any disruption in the supply chain in our country. »

Above all, road hauliers are bearing the brunt of the consequences of this social movement. “We have lost more than twenty points in quality of service,” sighs Denis Bertin, general manager of Jacky Perrenot (5,000 trucks and more than a billion turnover in 2022) which mainly delivers to hypermarkets. Normally, we deliver more than 96% of orders on time. There we are down to around 70%. »

Above all, these blockages require carriers to have a wealth of ingenuity to find the best alternative routes depending on the destination. “Almost all of our long journeys need to be re-arranged. We must tell our drivers which path to take to avoid being stuck in a traffic jam,” underlines Laurent de Rosnay, general manager of Sterne, specialist in B to B delivery very early in the morning (bank bag, spare car parts. ..) which achieves sales in excess of 550 million euros. Concretely, in-house network engineers change the GPS data that all heavy goods vehicles are equipped with. In its misfortune, the group has one chance: its drivers make their journey at night to arrive at the customer's house before 7 or 8 a.m. before the offices or factory open. Traffic is therefore less dense.

But, inevitably, these extended travel times generate additional costs: overtime to be paid to drivers, additional fuel consumption... “When our Chilly-Mazarin hub in the Paris region was almost blocked, we replaced a heavy goods vehicle per four vans, it’s not the same price,” declares Laurent de Rosnay. This is bad news because, in January, road hauliers had already faced a snowstorm accompanied by a travel ban for three days in the West and North for trucks.

Also read: Anger of the farmers: in turn mobilized, the Spanish peasants are angry with Europe… And with Gabriel Attal

As a result, the profession which has small margins (around 3%) lost money last month. Because neither Sterne nor Jack Perrenot have too many illusions: they will try to negotiate with their customers so as not to bear these surcharges alone. “But in our contracts, no clause provides for a financial contribution from the client in the event of a strike. Only the case of force majeure which does not include a social conflict is provided for,” argues Denis Bertin.

As a result, employers' organizations are asking the State for help. Union-TLF (Transport and Logistics of France) would particularly like the spread of tax and social security deadlines, exemptions from contributions on working hours caused by blockages and the extension of repayment deadlines for loans guaranteed by the State. For the Organization of European Road Transporters (OTRE), the priority is to request “compensatory financial measures because we are victims of a situation that we did not want”, according to its president Jean-Marc Rivera.

Above all, he asks for the maintenance of advantageous taxation on diesel, with the extension of the partial reimbursement of the TICPE in 2025. Not sure that they will be heard. Especially since in the absence of a Minister of Transport, who has still not been appointed, there is no political relay in the government to plead their cause.