IRU attended high level talks this week to brief senior government officials on the economic impacts of COVID-19 on road transport operators and share recommendations on urgently needed financial and non-financial recovery measures.
The UN Multidisciplinary Advisory Group Meeting on Transport Policy Responses to the COVID-19 Crisis and the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) steering committee for the Facilitation of Road Transport of Goods in the Region, both took place this week and aimed at underlining the importance of facilitating road transport connectivity and lessons learned from the COVID-19 crisis.
The sessions also discussed ways to improve the resilience of road transport in the case of future pandemics. IRU’s Advocacy Director Matthias Maedge presented the impact of COVID-19 on supply chains and mobility networks, and outlined IRU’s recovery plan to both groups.
“Our research on the global economic impact of COVID-19 in 2020 estimates that goods transport operators will face, on average, a decline in turnover of over 20%, and in some cases much higher. Passenger transport companies will be hit even harder, everywhere around the world,” said Matthias Maedge.
In light of this, and bearing in mind the sector’s fundamental role in driving global economic and social recovery, IRU’s recommendations focus on three broad objectives: keeping drivers, transport workers and citizens safe; keeping supply chains and mobility networks running smoothly; and ensuring that road transport operators stay in business.
Representatives of governments and authorities in attendance reacted positively to IRU’s call for much needed global coordination and agreed on the need for concrete actions to build a more resilient transportation system.