As one of the largest exporters of fruit and vegetables in the EU, Spain faces transport challenges. Demand for transport varies greatly from season to season and is also determined by the weather. Consequence: sudden scaling up or down is often required, while timely delivery is so important when it comes to fruit and vegetables. All the more important is that available transport is used smartly. That is why CtrlChain is pushing for expansion into Spain.
In 2022, Spain exported as much as 12 million tonnes of fruit and vegetables, mostly to other EU countries. Each region and each fruit and vegetable has its own harvesting season: in Almeria, the first peppers are harvested in September or October; in Murcia, the pepper season starts in March. During these peak times, many extra trucks are needed in those regions. This requires timely planning from shippers. But it is not always possible to predict in advance how much capacity is needed. Heat waves or other (weather) conditions may cause harvesting to take place earlier, or more or less crops to be harvested, than expected, which requires great flexibility.
After all, postponing harvest delivery by one day has consequences; fruit and vegetables should be on the shelves as fresh as possible. In Spain, those sudden peaks in transport demand are solved by bringing in trucks from other regions or countries. This has consequences: in a large country like Spain, this results in a lot of ‘empty kilometres’ being driven, both to the site and on their way back, trucks usually carry no load.
CtrlChain's expansion into Spain: better match between loads and available transport
The Spanish transport market benefits from smart use of available transport. Fluctuating demand can be met by getting a clear picture of loads and available transport, thereby reducing the number of empty kilometres. That is the reason behind CtrlChain’s expansion into Spain. We recently opened a branch in Barcelona to serve shippers and carriers in Spain even better with a dedicated team.
Shippers in Spain can book their transport flexibly with CtrlChain to suit their current demand. To match the needs of the Spanish market, we have added refrigerated transport to our network. Shippers can turn to us for scheduled and regular shipments as well as urgent shipments. In addition, the shipper will be notified automatically about the ETA.
Fewer empty trips
CtrlChain gives southern European carriers easy access to additional loads. This not only means extra trips, but also fewer empty kilometres. If a driver drives back from a certain region without a load, he can use our network to easily find loads that have the same destination. This allows carriers to make more efficient use of their existing trips. Carriers operating with CtrlChain set their own prices and determine which loads they accept.
CtrlChain is currently welcoming its first customers in Spain. By rapidly establishing new collaborations and welcoming shippers and carriers to our platform, we are building a transparent and efficient Spanish transport market.
