LONDON — After a turbulent start to 2026, the UK logistics sector is beginning to show signs of recovery, with businesses reporting improved confidence in their outlook and financial health despite continued pressure from high operating costs.
The findings come from Logistics UK’s latest Logistics Performance Tracker, published on August 20. The quarterly survey combines publicly available data with responses from logistics businesses to provide an overview of the sector’s current performance and longer-term trends.
Business confidence seems to have recovered quite strongly in the second quarter of 2026. On a scale of 1 to 10, where the highest score represents the strongest outlook, business confidence increased from 5.8 in the first quarter to 6.5 in Q2.
Respondents also reported a modest improvement in the financial health of their businesses, with the score rising from 7.2 to 7.5.
Logistics UK Chief Executive Ben Fletcher said the sector remains fundamental to the UK economy, supporting the movement of goods for businesses, schools, supermarkets and pharmacies while underpinning activity across manufacturing, health care and other areas of daily life.
Despite major disruption and supply chain challenges, logistics operators have continued to maintain service reliability and meet customer requirements.
“After a difficult start to the year, it is encouraging that survey results for this quarter show that operators are starting to feel more confident about the state of business, with gradual signs of recovery beginning to show,” Fletcher said.
However, the improvement in near-term sentiment does not mean the sector has moved beyond its challenges. Business expectations remain cautious, particularly because transport costs continue to place pressure on margins.
Transport costs received a low score of 11.5 out of 100, while 57% of respondents said they expect those costs to increase in the short to medium term.
Although this represents an improvement compared with the first-quarter findings, Logistics UK said stronger demand across the economy could still be offset by tighter margins and increased financial pressure on road-based operators, many of which already operate with very limited room to absorb additional costs.
Freight rates remain another concern. Most respondents expect the cost of moving cargo to increase, with 70.4% anticipating higher international freight rates and 67.6% expecting domestic rates to rise.
Disruption to global shipping routes also remains a significant concern. Some 26% of respondents reported that conditions had deteriorated compared with the first quarter, highlighting the vulnerability of a sector dependent on interconnected transport networks to move goods.
Labour shortages are adding another layer of pressure. 44% of respondents said they do not have enough professional drivers, while almost one-third reported severe or very severe difficulties filling vacancies for fitters, mechanics and technicians.
Fletcher said the importance of logistics to the wider economy can often go unnoticed because the sector’s role is to keep goods and services moving.
“The efficiency of the logistics sector means its contribution to keeping everything running often goes unrecognised,” he said.
He stressed that the combination of narrow profit margins and persistent operational challenges makes access to skilled workers and reliable transport corridors particularly important.
Fletcher also called for a policy framework that recognises logistics as a critical driver of economic growth, alongside sustained public and private investment in infrastructure and closer cooperation between government and industry.
According to Logistics UK, these measures would help give the sector the capacity to contribute more strongly to economic growth and strengthen resilience across the wider economy.
