Europe’s Freight Sector Struggles with Rolling Strikes and Structural Fatigue

By Eva Richardson – The Logistic News

Europe’s logistics infrastructure, long praised for its resilience, is now showing signs of serious strain as strikes ripple across the continent. What began as sector-specific disputes over pay and pensions has evolved into a broader wave of labor unrest that’s complicating freight movement, stressing warehousing capacity, and exhausting contingency strategies.

For freight operators and supply chain planners, the disruption is no longer temporary. It’s becoming systemic.

France: Rail Inertia Disrupts Inland Freight Arteries

In France, SNCF’s weekend strikes have become a fixture of the national calendar, halting freight services at key intervals and pushing inland terminals into overflow. The Nord and Rhône-Alpes corridors—critical links between maritime ports and central Europe—are operating well below normal throughput.

While trucking has absorbed some volumes, diesel prices and driver shortages have made it difficult to scale road alternatives. For many operators, the only option has been to delay dispatch altogether or reroute through less efficient modes.

“Every plan we make has to be rewritten 48 hours later,” said Chloé Martin, supply chain director at a multinational beverage distributor based in Lyon. “We are no longer forecasting—we’re firefighting.”

UK: Aviation Cargo Bottlenecked Amid Ground Labor Action

At London Gatwick, a rolling strike by ground staff has disrupted both passenger and cargo handling for over a week. Perishable shipments have been diverted to Heathrow and Manchester, but the knock-on effects are mounting. Limited ramp availability and slot constraints are slowing even priority shipments.

Express logistics firms are feeling the impact most acutely. One airfreight provider reported losing three client accounts due to consistent delivery failures caused by route diversions and handling delays.

“We’re not the ones on strike,” said a senior operations manager in Crawley. “But we’re the ones apologizing daily to customers.”

Spain: Access Blocked, Urban Logistics Slowed

In Spain’s Canary Islands, protest actions tied to hospitality sector disputes have spilled into city logistics. Roadblocks and protest marches have made delivery planning almost impossible in urban zones near major hotels and tourist hotspots.

Warehouses in Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife report backlogs, not due to product availability—but because trucks can’t reach drop-off points. Last-mile operators have had to suspend service in several downtown areas altogether.

A Sector at Its Operational Limit

What unites these national crises is the absence of a clear end point. Unlike weather-related disruptions or one-off policy shocks, the strikes have no singular trigger and no coordinated resolution in sight. This leaves logistics professionals managing an open-ended situation, without timelines or guarantees.

Companies with diversified modal strategies and distributed warehousing models are managing better. But smaller firms—especially regionally anchored operators—are suffering margin erosion with every new route change and client cancellation.

Conclusion

Europe’s freight sector is not collapsing—but it is being tested. The familiar tools of supply chain management—efficiency, optimization, speed—have taken a back seat to improvisation, redundancy, and endurance.

For now, it’s not about moving faster. It’s about staying functional when everything around you is in motion.

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