The last three years ended 3000 freight companies in Portugal, which currently are about 8,000, estimated today to Lusa the president of the National Association of Road Goods Public Transport (ANTRAM).

According told Lusa Gustavo Duarte, the disappearance of companies in the sector is related to a sum of factors, including the difficulty for companies to obtain financing, the high price of fuel and the amount of taxes they have to pay as well as the introduction of tolls on old roads No Cost to You (SCUT).

The president of ANTRAM, who was speaking to Lusa on the sidelines of the 15th Association Congress, stressed that those are not official data, as the Institute for Mobility and Transport (IMT) does not have updated figures on the amount of companies operating in the industry, but an estimate of the association.

As regards the payment of tolls on former SCUT, measure introduced four years ago, Gustavo Duarte believes that enough penalized exports, making Portugal uncompetitive compared to other European countries, particularly because there is, in most cases, roads which serve as an alternative.

On the other hand, according to the president of ANTRAM, the freight companies are the industry “more taxes paid in Portugal” because in addition to the normal taxes applied to all companies still have to pay high taxes applied to a “raw material”, ie the fuel.

“We have high competitiveness of difficulties in the sector before our European competitors,” summed up the charge, pointing out also, among other difficulties, the lack of regulation of the activity and labor, he feels “increasingly”, since “is derogatory be socially trucker”.

Last year, the association established a protocol with the Institute of Employment and Vocational Training (IEFP) to be trained in that area more than 800 unemployed agreement that was renewed and which should run until mid 2016.

The 15th congress of ANTRAM place between today and Saturday at a hotel in Albufeira on the theme “Synergies that unite us”, and has the program addressing issues such as the new European road package or the challenges of Portugal in the European context.

Also during the day, ANTRAM will establish several protocols with other entities related to the goods transport sector.

[Source]