Latvian road freight transport (RFT) is mainly international, accounting for nearly 80% of its total activity. Latvian companies seem to travel more to Scandinavia, the Baltic countries and Russia. During the period studied, journeys to Western European countries were less frequent than in 2017. This resulted in a lower annual mileage for Latvian heavy goods vehicles than in the last study, with 120,400 km per year in 2020 compared to 138,000 km per year in 2017. The transport companies interviewed cited the COVID-19 health crisis and the consequences of the Mobility Package as reasons for these changes. Drivers under Latvian contracts assigned to international routes are now returning home more often, on average every two weeks. Several companies even report that their drivers working internationally return home every weekend. Ultimately, the mileage of a driver assigned to international duties is estimated at 110,400 kilometres per year in 2020, compared to 130,000 kilometres per year in 2017.

In addition, certain cost items have increased over the past three years. This is the case for driver costs, which have risen by 20.6% since 2017. This increase is due to the rise in the national minimum wage (+31.6% between 2017 and 2021) and an increase in travel allowances. Other notable increases since 2017 include tolls (+27.7% %) and vehicle ownership costs (+25.3% %).

In addition, the motor vehicle tax now takes into account the Euro class of the vehicle, with Euro VI heavy goods vehicles now paying a lower fee. 

Overall, in 2020, the total cost of a Latvian heavy goods vehicle operating internationally is estimated at €0.82/km, an increase of +27% since 2017, when the CNR conducted its previous study.

The CNR invites you to discover this new study, which provides comprehensive details on Latvian TRM under 2020 operating conditions.