According to Frank Huster, CEO of the DSLV (German Federation of Freight Forwarding and Logistics), extreme heat is increasingly posing a risk to the transport industry and is already straining traffic infrastructure to its limits. He stated to the Handelsblatt that in places, the road surface on motorways is so severely damaged that entire sections have been shut down. The disruption extends to rail transport, as tracks, overhead lines, switches, and control centers are also being affected.
Concerns are also growing regarding water transport routes. Huster noted that as water levels continue to drop in major rivers such as the Rhine, Mosel, and Neckar, the allowable draft for inland vessels is decreasing. This forces logistics operators to split cargo onto multiple ships, which will eventually become a serious capacity issue. Furthermore, heat-induced outages are creating additional complications in North Sea ports.
For safety reasons, container terminals at the port of Rotterdam were forced to temporarily suspend operations last week due to the heat. All slots for the delivery and retrieval of containers were cancelled. This port shutdown, in turn, has led to further congestion in inland traffic via road, rail, and water routes. Huster explained that these ongoing disruptions and closures are compelling logistics companies to improvise and reroute their operations daily. He concluded that this increased planning effort is placing an ever-growing burden on employees and negatively affecting business profits.
