Sea freight: MSC introduces a fuel surcharge

Today's article on MSC's fuel surcharge in ocean freight has also been echoed in road transport in recent days: the TSL sector is discussing congestion surcharges, cabotage, the driver shortage and queues at the EU's eastern border. Below is a selection of voices from LinkedIn, Facebook, Wykop and other places where industry professionals are discussing these issues in real time.

MSC catches up with road transport: congestion surcharges and low Rhine water levels

It turns out that MSC is not limiting its surcharges to ocean freight. RailFreight.com reports: "Shipping giant MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company announced the introduction of 'traffic congestion surcharges' for rail, trucking, and rail-truck transport. It affects services from/to Antwerp and Rotterdam via Andernach, Frankfurt, Germersheim Munich, Nurnberg, Neuss, Strasbourg, Trier, and Woerth." (10.08.2026, LinkedIn)

The reason is straightforward: record-low water levels on the Rhine are disrupting barge transport and shifting loads onto road and rail, immediately pushing up prices. Kiron Zaal points out that the problem is broader than the river itself: "Was looking at the latest congestion numbers this week, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg, all still sitting at 80-90% yard utilisation at several terminals as of end of July. (...) We can't do much about congestion itself, but as Q3 volumes build, it's a decent reminder that customs is one of the few things actually within our control." (LinkedIn)

Cabotage under scrutiny: fines are rising, while the driver is left alone

Today (13.08.2026), the Trans.INFO Facebook page published a series of posts about cabotage checks in Germany, and these triggered the day's most emotional discussion. The first case involved a driver fined €5,500 for cabotage who was then, according to the post, dismissed and left without any means of support: "After a €5,500 cabotage fine, the driver said he was sacked and left stranded—with just three days of food." (Facebook)

The comments under the post are unequivocal. Ian Lowe writes: "That's because he's the one who can say yes or no to a job, it's easy to hide behind ignorance but people know the rules but carry on breaking them until they get stopped. The cabotage rules are simple but companies and their drivers choose to ignore them." (Facebook), while Garry Scott adds briefly: "The driver is always the one that suffers 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬" (Facebook). Dario Chinellato sums it up tersely: "The EU's miracle" (Facebook).

The second post that day concerned a carrier banned from operating in Germany for a year after 23 violations and more than €70,000 in fines—Jon Connery asks rhetorically: "Why ban your cash cow" (Facebook). The third case involved 40 drivers employed under a model that attracted the attention of the German customs authorities and ended in a €35,000 fine—Emil Engblom comments more broadly: "Lithuania is Europe's social dumping ground. It's isn't only in trucking. Same schemes are used in ship building and industrial construction." (Facebook)

The debate over the missing half-million drivers

The IRU reports that Europe is short approximately 502,000 truck drivers. Lovro Herga cited these figures on LinkedIn, prompting one of the week's more interesting discussions (65 likes, 16 comments). Some commenters question the diagnosis of a "labour shortage" itself. Chris Condon writes: "I wonder if this is partly being framed as a labor shortage when it is really a willingness-to-pay gap. An unfilled position does not necessarily mean the labor does not exist. It can mean the compensation, working conditions or economics of the role are not sufficient to attract it." (LinkedIn)

Marko Zivojinovic goes a step further: "When we are talking about drivers shortage no one is seeing elephant in the room. Drivers earnings are standing still and working conditions are not improving. On top of that drivers are not respected. As long as drivers are treated as dots on screen new people are not going to be attracted to transport industry." (LinkedIn) Michael Epprecht explicitly links this to the geography of Central and Eastern Europe: "The West European transport operators can pay more as the rates don't allow for it as cheap drivers from Baltic states and Poland are earning close to slave wages. If the transport industry and their customers want drivers in future, they have to pay significantly more to the drivers." (LinkedIn) Dzenan Hrvic points out the irony: "Europe is missing 502,000 truck drivers, meanwhile, directly under the post: a truck driver with 3 years of experience is literally asking for a job 😄" (LinkedIn)

Alastair Gunn raises the Polish angle in this debate: "Given the plurality of UK-EU goods trade is undertaken by Polish vehicles, the growing shortage of drivers in countries like Poland is of direct relevance to the UK economy." (LinkedIn)

Three days in the queue: the eastern border as a bottleneck

Roman Kotenko provides the clearest practical example of what the EU's "external border" looks like in practice: "Inside Schengen, a border is a road sign. You cross at motorway speed and your ETA never notices. Then a load runs to the EU's external frontier, and the rounding error becomes the trip. This afternoon the longest queue there was Uhryniv-Dolhobychiv into Poland: a reported three days and eight hours, 324 trucks in it." He adds: "Across the 20 truck checkpoints reporting a live queue there is no 'average'. 13 sat at exactly zero. One at 36 minutes. The other six ran from nineteen hours to that three-day wait. Nothing in between." (LinkedIn)

Ferries: the Baltic as a freight corridor

Since today's article also touches on ferries, it is worth noting that Stena Line recalled the history of the Gdynia–Karlskrona route this week: "Since 1995, the Gdynia–Karlskrona route has grown from one vessel (...) to one of the most important ferry connections in the Baltic Sea. (...) it has carried more than 12 million passengers and 2.5 million freight units across the Baltic Sea." (LinkedIn) The post prompted lively reactions—Mark Philip asks directly: "Do you think we'll ever see a return to the the Dover Calais route for Stena?", while Thomas Lindström jokes: "Maybe Vasa-Umeå could need some attention 😄" (LinkedIn)

Fuel is getting cheaper, but rates are not: peak season is just around the corner

Przemyslaw Grzywa (Fast Trans) explains why falling oil prices do not immediately translate into lower transport costs: "Diesel prices are falling... So why are transport costs still under pressure? (...) many transport companies across Europe are still paying over €2 per litre for diesel. Why? Because the price at the pump doesn't follow the price of oil overnight. Add to that: rising labour costs, vehicle maintenance, insurance, road tolls, delayed customer payments." (LinkedIn)

At the same time, freight forwarders are warning of a difficult September. Ezequiel Devesa writes: "We're heading into peak season in Europe. People are still on holiday, but the industry is already gearing up for Christmas and New Year. As volume rises, available capacity will inevitably shrink. From here on, freight forwarders need to switch into war-freight mode, not fighting for cargo, but fighting for truck capacity." (LinkedIn) Under the post, Andre Gomesz confirms this from the other side of the chain: "And advance planning for space. Here in Colombo freight Space is becoming extremely tight to Europe. Not enough liner space and equipment for the amount of shipments that are getting confirmed." (LinkedIn)

From the cab and Wykop: the everyday reality of the job

The liveliest discussion about the driver's profession itself was prompted by Iwona Blecharczyk's post about life as an owner-operator (196 likes, 17 comments): "That's what it's like being owner operator. You have to take care of everything - even if it means lugging metal brackets for a warning sign on the train..." Under the post, a moving comment appeared from a driver looking for work: MAHMOUDI AMAR wrote: "This is a request from one driver to another. I am from Algeria and hold a category CE driving licence. I am actively looking for my first opportunity to work as a truck driver in Europe. (...) Thank you for everything you do for the drivers' community. Safe travels! 🚛" (LinkedIn)

On Wykop, freight forwarding as a profession also elicits mixed feelings. User ff99plpowrot considers a job offer in freight forwarding: "#loser am I suited for #freightforwarding? #logistics I think I'll turn down this job offer because I feel sick at the thought of having to deal with ADHD p0lus buses carrying 50 packages every few days.." (Wykop), to which PfefferWerfer replies briefly: "You're right, driver Sebek will eat you alive" (Wykop). In another thread, Hehemerkes asks about large-scale tractor unit orders: "Do we have any large carriers here on Wykop who order tractor units in quantities of 20 or more and would like to share their experience?", while JudzinStouner jokingly comments on the scale of such orders: "take away a zero xD" (Wykop).

Against this backdrop, industry website Truck & Van recalls another regulatory front—the new tachograph rules that came into force over the summer: "A month with the new tacho reality behind us! It made one thing clear: theory is one thing, while practice on the road and during inspections is another." (Facebook)

Sentiment of the day

The mood in the TSL sector has been tense but not panicky in recent days. Cabotage and increasingly stringent checks are causing frustration directed mainly at companies, not drivers—online commenters explicitly say that the driver always pays the highest price. The debate over the driver shortage reveals a clear divide: some in the industry blame demographics and young people's reluctance to enter the profession, while others blame rates and working conditions, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe. Added to this are real, tangible operational problems—congestion on the Rhine, MSC surcharges spilling over into road and rail, and multi-day queues at the EU's eastern border—which call for caution in approaching the announced "peak season."

Sources unavailable today for live community discussion: forotransportistas.es, foros24h.com, forum.soferdetir.ro, planet-truck.fr and trucker-forum.at (technically accessible, but without organic user contributions—only administrative reposts).