A Comprehensive Guide to Vehicle Shipping Challenges

What are the main issues with vehicle shipping in 2024/25?

1. Shortage of RoRo vessels

Since summer 2022, there has been a noticeable ‘capacity crunch’ or shortage in RoRo capacity, forcing carmakers to look for alternative methods of transportation, such as container shipping.

The reason for this is a shortage of new vessels being put to sea, with its origins in the Covid-19 Pandemic. Pre-Covid, global RoRo capacity had been increasing year-on-year, but when the pandemic hit, most of the new vessels scheduled for production in the shipyards of China and the Far East were postponed or discontinued, and many have not been resumed subsequently.

In the unstable post-Covid political and economic environment, vessel operators have been wary of placing orders for expensive new RoRo ships due to market uncertainty, supply chain disruption, and the level of capital required for each new ship. It takes around 4-5 years to build a modern Ro-Ro vessel, so the global shortage is likely to continue until at least 2025.

2. Peak in demand

Meeting the capacity crunch head on, the RoRo shipping industry is also anticipating higher demand in 2025 and 2026 despite a global economic slowdown – fuelled by a consumer demand for electric and hybrid vehicles in Europe and North America. This increase in volume is putting pressure on the industry to ensure safe transportation and adequate cargo spacing, making supply scarcer and prices higher.

3. Port delays due to traffic jams

Good old-fashioned traffic jams worldwide are causing congestion and delays in handling cars at ports in Europe and China. This is affecting long-haul RoRo schedules and leading to disruption in the supply chain. In Zeebrugge, Belgium, for instance, one of Europe's largest automotive ports, congestion and tight capacity have constrained potential growth, even as RoRo traffic rose 6.5 percent in 2022. Slow-downs due to Covid-19 (still an issue in China deep into 2023), reduced staff at ports and industrial action in the UK, EU, and America, and customs delays (e.g. arising from Brexit) can add to the overall transit time.

4. High prices

One of the main challenges facing the RoRo sector in 2025 is the high cost of transit, particularly for fuel and labour. At the same time, vessel operators have been forced to invest millions into decarbonisation and sustainability initiatives, with the increased overheads leaking down to the consumer. This has squeezed the margins for car manufacturers and in some cases made RoRo shipping financially unviable.

5. Limited shipping routes

Compared to container shipping, RoRo shipping lacks routing flexibility. This can be a disadvantage when dealing with changes in shipping routes or destinations. RoRo services often involve multiple port calls to load and unload different cargoes, which can extend the journey time by weeks or even months. In contrast, container services often operate on direct routes between major international ports.

6. Slow time to market

Even without these issues, RoRo transport is generally a slow way of getting car consignments from the factory to dealership. Cars are often sat for weeks at embarkation points waiting to be loaded onto the vessel, and then each vehicle needs to be driven on and off the ship individually, which can be time-consuming when dealing with large numbers of vehicles. A shortage of lorry drivers, dockers, microchips, and ships in 2023/24 means cars are staying in ports for even longer than usual, leaving no space for new deliveries. When at sea, moreover, RoRo vessels typically travel at slower speeds than container ships, because they are designed to prioritise capacity over speed, resulting in longer transit times.

7. Risk of damage to stock

Many car manufacturers prefer RoRo due to its perceived safety – and many modern vessels do have specialised equipment to secure and protect stock during the journey. However, cars are extremely vulnerable to damage during loading and unloading, when they are frequently subject to minor collisions. Improper handling or accidents during this process can result in scratches, dents, or more serious damage (e.g., when a driver’s door is opened and closed in close proximity to another vehicle). A car could also be damaged if it's not properly secured and moves during transit – as can easily happen during rough seas and high winds.

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8. Exposure to weather conditions

With container shipping, vehicles are fully protected from the elements at all times, whereas vehicles transported via RoRo are only protected from the elements during transit. During stationary periods such as being held at entry ports for days at a time, this protection lessens somewhat. This can lead to weather-related damage, such as paint corrosion from saltwater spray, ice-related damage, and damage due to temperature changes, to name a few.

9. Risk of theft and vandalism

Cars transported internationally by RoRo spend a lot of time at embarkation centres awaiting loading. During this time, the cars are vulnerable to the attention of criminals. While theft or vandalism of stock is relatively (and surprisingly) rare, it can and does occur, especially if the vehicles are left unattended port side or if security measures are inadequate.

Piracy at sea is another pervasive risk for vessels traversing certain high-risk sea routes around the world, e.g. the Gulf of Guinea, the Straits of Singapore, and some parts of Indonesia. The ICC IMB's annual report recorded 115 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships in 2022, a decrease from 132 in 2021. Although this indicates a decline in overall piracy incidents, it still highlights an ongoing risk. It’s important for modern vessels to take additional precautions to safeguard their stock from pirates looking to steal a hijack cargo, and to be equipped with efficient tracking systems to alert port authorities to potential danger.

10. Risk of total loss

Over the last few years, particularly since the soaring popularity of electric vehicles, we have seen a spike in reports of RoRos catching fire. Although there is no definitive link between EVs and the fires onboard these ships, more of us are becoming wary of how to safely transport electric cars. The danger of an electric car catching alight is in its proximity to all other vehicles onboard – a fire in a stacked EV can spread extremely quickly and potentially send an entire ship up in flames.

Our main precaution, at least for now, would be to place your vehicles inside shipping containers. Containers can contain a fire and prevent it from spreading past its walls. The few vehicles inside the containers may be lost, but all others onboard will be unaffected.

Faced with the limitations of RoRo and the issues facing the sector, a growing number of OEMs and automotive logistics businesses are taking containerised car shipping more seriously. Containerised transport has long been recognised as an ideal option for individuals and small businesses who want to ship a small batch of cars across long distances without risking damage to their vehicles. By enclosing the cars in shipping containers, they protect them from the elements and other hazards that may come their way during transit.

On a larger scale, however, many manufacturers and logistics businesses have discounted containerised transport as impractical and/or expensive. This was especially the case during the shipping container bubble of 2020 to 2022, which witnessed a record spike in shipping container prices due to unprecedented demand, high spot rates, and the impact of inflation.

By the beginning of 2023, however, spot rates had largely returned to their pre-pandemic levels.

This has put container shipping back on the table as a serious contender for the streamlined global shipping of large-scale car consignments, easily accommodating shipments of 20,000 to 100,000 vehicles or more.

The alternative to RoRo: Container shipping for cars

Advantages of containerised car shipping over Ro-Ro

Shorter lead times:

Containerisation can yield shorter factory to dealership lead times with more carrier options, shipping lanes, and ports to choose from. Containerised car transport also sometimes gives the option of door-to-door service with multi-modal transport routes – once containerised, vehicles can be seamlessly moved from ship to train to transport lorry, and only disembarked when they reach their final destination.

Cost-effectiveness:

Container transportation often results in lower transport costs due to reduced handling. Once secured in place, your containerised vehicles need no human intervention until the end of their journey, significantly reducing labour costs and resource needs.

Consolidation:

Consolidating mixed vehicle consignments into single loads maximises the space in containers. This can streamline delivery channels and is particularly beneficial for large-scale car consignments.

Flexibility:

Our RAKs are designed to be adjustable for the size and shape of any type of vehicle in any combination of loads, and in any size of container. “One size fits all”.

Complete protection from the elements:

Containers provide complete protection from external weather conditions, dust, debris, and other potential hazards during transit.

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Added security:

Containers are securely sealed and can only be opened at the destination, which significantly reduces the chance of theft or tampering. Minimal handling also contributes to reduced damages compared to RoRo.

Versatility:

Racking can accommodate various types and sizes of vehicle, providing sturdy and secure safekeeping for a wide range of cargo, from Bentleys to Minis, race cars to Range Rovers.

Despite the safety and risk management advantages of containerised car transport, however, you’re still left with the issue of cost. A standard shipping container can normally only accommodate two or at most three consumer vehicles, so if you need to ship 20,000 cars, that’s a lot of shipping containers. But what if you could increase carrying capacity to 4 to 6 cars per container? Suddenly containerised transport looks far more economical, and is a viable alternative to RoRo.

The way to increase the value and haulage capacity of each shipping container is to invest in reusable vehicle racking systems, such as the R-RAK or EL-RAK from Trans-Rak International.

Saving money through vehicle racking systems

Vehicle shipping racks are an excellent way to optimise a shipping container’s carrying capacity, making it a practical solution for commercial consignments of all volumes. These racks are designed to fit precisely inside standard shipping containers, allowing the easy loading and unloading of vehicles.

By using this method, you can transport multiple cars at a time, thus doubling the carrying capacity of each container, and reducing the overall shipping costs of the consignment. For instance, Trans-Rak's vehicle racking system can accommodate four to six vehicles in any high cube container. 40ft, 45ft or 53ft in any combination using the same adjustable RAKs.

By enabling more efficient use of container space, vehicle racking systems can also help reduce the environmental impact of vehicle transport. Fewer containers mean less energy used for transport and lower CO2 emissions.

About Trans-Rak International

Singamas Group, one of the most internationally respected Chinese container manufacturing businesses has manufactured racks for Trans-Rak for 20+ years. Our latest EL-RAK external racking system was launched in 2020. All systems are produced in compliance with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards.

Our team of directors and designers combine more than 30 years of logistics and engineering experience to create a company with a unique outlook, vision, and skill set.

From our base in Warwick in the UK we employ a dedicated British technical support, sales and customer service team; serving customers in more than 100 countries around the world.

Our racking systems are now used by numerous market-leading automotive manufacturers, including BMW, VW, Porsche, Tesla, Mazda, Nissan, and McLaren.

Find out more

Thank you for downloading this guide. If you would like to find out more about the benefits of containerised shipping for cars, please get in touch with one of our knowledgeable team using the details below.

Trans-Rak is the market leader in the manufacturing of racking systems for the movement of finished vehicles and SKD (bodies only).

Tel: 01926 408282

Email: [email protected]