UK logistics costs rise 53% in decade

Dojo research shows that UK transport and logistics businesses have experienced some of the steepest operating cost increases of the past decade, with average costs rising by 53% since 2015.

The findings place transport and storage among the UK sectors most exposed to long-term inflationary pressure. The analysis examined changes across cost categories including energy, business rates, technology, fuel, and industry-specific supplies, with SME business costs rising faster than consumer inflation over the period.

Technology-related costs have been a major driver, rising by an average of 103% across the sector. Fuel costs have increased by 90%, while training expenses have climbed by 92%. For logistics operators, those categories sit close to daily operations: fleet systems, route planning, warehouse software, telematics, driver training, compliance, and vehicle running costs all flow directly into service delivery.

Transport businesses are managing that pressure in a market where customers remain highly sensitive to rate increases. Industry data has also pointed to a significant share of transport and storage businesses planning price rises, with many reporting higher prices for goods and services purchased. Operators are being forced to choose between absorbing cost increases, passing them through, or redesigning parts of the operating model.

Logistics inflation rarely lands evenly. Fuel spikes hit long-distance haulage quickly, while warehousing operators feel pressure through labour, rates, electricity, insurance, maintenance, and systems costs. Smaller operators can be especially exposed because they often lack the buying power to renegotiate energy, software, fleet, and equipment contracts on favourable terms.

Rising technology costs create a particularly difficult trade-off. Warehouse management systems, transport management platforms, telematics, compliance tools, handheld devices, route optimisation, and customer visibility portals are now expected parts of the logistics service proposition. Cutting investment can weaken efficiency and reporting, but investing without measurable productivity gains simply adds fixed cost to a thin-margin operating base.

Fuel remains equally sensitive. Disruption in global energy markets can feed quickly into diesel, electricity, supplier prices, and surcharge structures. Logistics bodies have continued to press for support around fuel and electricity costs, while operators attempt to keep rate cards aligned with inputs that can shift faster than contract cycles.

Cost pressure is also shaping decarbonisation decisions. Electric trucks, alternative fuels, charging infrastructure, route redesign, and lower-emission warehousing all require capital. Maritime operators are already building emissions reduction into procurement, including Hapag-Lloyd and Kuehne+Nagel’s sustainable ocean freight agreement. For road freight and warehousing, the transition is more exposed to local energy costs, vehicle availability, depot constraints, and customer willingness to fund lower-emission services.

The cost data also exposes a weakness in older logistics pricing models. Many contracts were built when inflation was lower and input costs were more predictable. That structure is harder to sustain when software, labour, insurance, fuel, and compliance rise together. Indexation, fuel surcharge mechanisms, minimum volume commitments, and open-book cost models are likely to become more common as providers and customers try to avoid annual renegotiations turning into repeated crisis talks.

Transport and storage operators are not dealing with a single temporary spike. A decade-long increase points to a structurally more expensive operating base. The operators best placed to manage it will be those that understand cost exposure lane by lane, site by site, customer by customer, and contract by contract.