From Belgium, the Polish road transport sector was often seen as an aggressive competitor. The ‘Polish flag’ has grown significantly in twenty years, becoming the largest caboteur in Europe and making the largest foreign contribution to the LKW-Maut in Germany. Yet not everything is rosy in the land of Donald Tusk…
The expression is probably exaggerated, even if it comes from the president of the Transport i Logistyka Polska federation: Maciej Wroński does not hesitate to use the term “death struggle” to describe the current evolution of Polish road transport. To reinforce his words, Maciej Wroński sums up the figures: the number of licensed companies fell from 44,957 to 43,924 (-2.3%) between the end of 2024 and the end of 2025 and this decline mainly affects large companies (more than 100 vehicles), the number of which fell by 7.53%. According to Mr Wroński, companies with 11 to 20 vehicles proved to be the most resilient to the downturn, as their numbers have remained virtually unchanged. In contrast, the number of vehicles owned by Polish carriers fell by 5.12%. The number of bankruptcies has increased by 142% (1270 versus 525) and the number of companies that have ceased operations (outside bankruptcy) has increased by 21% (467 versus 384).
More subjectively, the total value of transport services provided by Polish carriers appears to be decreasing. This will have fallen from 14% of GDP to below 12.8% in 2025. Maciej Wroński partly explains this by the weak economic situation among Poland’s most important economic partners, but he also points to the shortage of drivers. This shortage is particularly serious in Poland, where the sector employs around 350,000 truck drivers, but more than 145,000 jobs are held by nationals of other countries. Ukrainian drivers account for the lion’s share (47% of the total), closely followed by Belarusians. However, in two years the number of foreign drivers working in Poland has fallen by more than 10%. However, Maciej Wroński does not explain whether this decrease is due to a lack of work or whether it is one of the causes of the decrease in transport volume.
In any case, Polish road transport seems to be at a crossroads: it is no longer the cheapest today and may have to return to ambitions that better reflect its real capabilities…
