European logistics hubs: how consolidation centers are transforming freight transport in Europe

European logistics is undergoing a major structural transformation. Order fragmentation, pressure for faster deliveries, and rising transport costs are forcing companies to rethink how they organize their transport networks. As a result, logistics hubs and consolidation centers are coming to the fore - gradually rewriting the traditional model of direct shipments and reshaping the balance between the FTL and LTL segments.

Logistics hubs as the backbone of European supply chains

Logistics hubs are emerging in regions with high-quality transport infrastructure, a strategic location, and an available workforce - for example in the Benelux, Germany, northern Italy, Austria, and Central-East Europe. These regions are becoming natural crossroads for goods flows across Europe, connecting road, rail, maritime, and air transport.

The importance of these hubs is also growing due to structural changes in the European economy. Transport and logistics are among the key sectors. 

“The transport sector contributes approximately 5% to EU GDP and employs more than 10 million people,” says Arturo De La Fuente Nuño, Director of Sectoral and Regional Statistics at Eurostat.

Consolidation as a response to market fragmentation

Customers are increasingly working with smaller volumes, but with a higher delivery frequency. This trend driven by e-commerce and just-in-time production dramatically increases the importance of LTL transport. 

“Consolidation centers and Eurohubs play a major role here. We combine shipments from different senders and optimize vehicle utilization, as well as transit times and costs,” notes Svitlana Shypil, International Road Network Director at Raben Ukraine.

In operational terms, consolidation networks typically differentiate shipments according to size and loading volume. In European road transport practice, this is often reflected in a three-tier structure: groupage transport, covering small consignments of up to eight pallets; partial loads (LTL), generally ranging from nine to around thirty pallets; and full truckload (FTL) services for larger volumes requiring a dedicated vehicle. This division allows logistics networks to combine high-frequency, fragmented flows with more predictable, higher-capacity movements, and forms the basis for integrating groupage and LTL volumes into consolidated hub operations, while using FTL primarily for inter-hub and long-distance linehauls.

The changing role of FTL within a consolidation network

Consolidation is also fundamentally changing the traditional role of fully loaded trucks (FTL). Today, they often serve as linehauls between logistics hubs, carrying large volumes of consolidated freight. Transport companies therefore use a model that combines LTL and FTL routes, enabling better capacity planning, more stable transit times, and lower costs associated with empty kilometers.

“The combination of FTL and LTL models is crucial—especially in Europe, where road transport remains the most widely used means of moving goods,” confirms Svitlana Shypil, International Road Network Director at Raben Ukraine.

Eurostat data also highlights the importance of road transport in Europe. It states that road transport’s share of freight transport performance in the EU reached 25.7% in 2024 (in tonne-kilometres), while rail accounted for 5.4% and inland waterways for 1.7%. [1]

Economic pressure for transport efficiency

The economic context of consolidation is clear. In 2024, the volume of road freight transport in the EU reached approximately 1,869 billion tonne-kilometres, confirming a stable yet highly competitive market under pressure on productivity and margins.

Shipment fragmentation and the high share of empty runs, which accounted for more than one fifth of the distances covered by road freight vehicles in the EU in 2024, show that the potential for optimization remains significant. [2]

The future of European consolidation centers

Looking ahead, the role of logistics hubs is expected to strengthen further - especially in Central and Eastern Europe, where growing manufacturing capacity is combined with strong infrastructure and a relatively available workforce.

A key trend will be digitalization, data transparency, and flexible, real-time capacity management. Consolidation centers will thus gradually transform from physical transshipment points into strategic control nodes for entire supply chains.

According to market forecasts, partial-load transport is expected to grow at an average rate of 3.37% per year between 2026 and 2031, outpacing the overall road freight market. This growth is fueled mainly by e‑commerce, which generates dense streams of small shipments and supports daily cross-dock operations from hub-and-spoke* terminals in logistics-heavy regions such as Germany, the Benelux and Poland. At the same time, digital freight-matching tools are helping operators cut empty return kilometers by pairing compatible partial loads in real time, improving cost efficiency and margins in the LTL segment. [3]

Sources: 

[1] Eurostat, News article

[2] Eurostat, Road freight transport by journey characteristics

[3] Europe Road Freight Transport Market Size and Share Analysis

*‘hub-and-spoke’ system is a centralised distribution system in which goods are transported from various points of origin (‘spokes’) to a central hub for sorting, and are then distributed to their final destinations.