Nearshoring and reshoring in Europe: what it means for road freight carriers

Nearshoring and reshoring are pulling manufacturing back toward Europe, and the practical result for road freight is more intra-European volume moving over shorter, denser East-West lanes rather than arriving by container from Asia. The Capgemini Research Institute's 2026 reindustrialisation survey , fielded in early 2026, found that nearly three-quarters of large European and US organisations now have a reindustrialisation strategy in place or in development, a clear structural signal rather than a one-off pandemic reaction. This guide explains, from the carrier's and shipper's operational point of view, what these terms mean, which countries are becoming Europe's nearshoring hubs, and how new lane patterns change tender strategy, backhaul balance, and capacity planning.

What is the difference between nearshoring, reshoring, and offshoring?

Offshoring means moving production far from the end market to cut unit cost, typically to Asia. Reshoring means bringing that production back to the company's home country. Nearshoring sits between the two: relocating production to a nearby country, usually within the same region or trading bloc, to shorten supply lines while keeping costs lower than a full return home. A related term, friendshoring, means concentrating supply in politically allied countries; it was cited by 64% of continental-European organisations in the 2026 Capgemini survey.

For a European shipper, the distinction is not academic. Offshored volume arrives as sea freight and feeds inland distribution from a handful of ports. Nearshored and reshored volume moves door to door by road, which is why the European Commission's Clean Industrial Deal and its 2026 follow-up measures on strategic autonomy matter directly to hauliers: every point of manufacturing pulled back into the EU converts into road freight demand on internal corridors.

Why are European manufacturers nearshoring production in 2026?

Three forces are pushing production closer to the end market. The first is resilience: after the disruptions of the early 2020s, boards want shorter, more controllable supply chains, and the European Parliamentary Research Service has documented how reshoring and nearshoring are now treated as value-chain security policy, not just cost management. The second is policy: EU reindustrialisation and open strategic autonomy initiatives, including the Industrial Accelerator Act presented in March 2026, tilt public procurement and investment toward European-made goods. The third is cost convergence: as Asian wage and shipping costs have risen, the gap that once justified offshoring has narrowed, while Central and Eastern Europe offers EU-market access at lower operating cost.

The trade data confirms the internal shift. According to Eurostat , intra-EU goods trade was worth EUR 4,025 billion in 2025, 56% higher than the EUR 2,584 billion of exports leaving the bloc, and 78% of those intra-EU exports were manufactured products. That is the volume base that moves by truck.

Which countries are becoming Europe's nearshoring hubs?

Central and Eastern Europe is the clear centre of gravity, with the Mediterranean rim (Spain, Portugal, and increasingly Morocco and Turkiye as adjacent supply bases) forming a second cluster. Poland is the largest single market and the region's freight anchor; Czechia consistently tops nearshoring-attractiveness indices on its established industrial base; Romania and Hungary draw automotive and electronics investment on location and labour cost. Colliers' CEE-6 outlook for 2025 and 2026 reports industrial and logistics real estate outperforming the wider market precisely because of nearshoring and foreign direct investment inflows, with Poland's GDP growing around 3.5%.

For carriers, the practical read is that new factory capacity clusters around known logistics nodes: Silesia and central Poland, the Prague-Brno-Ostrava belt, western Romania around Timisoara and Arad, and the corridor between Budapest and Gyor. Shippers rebalancing sourcing into these zones need dependable outbound capacity toward Germany, France, and the Benelux, and real-time visibility on those new corridors. Carriers evaluating whether to position equipment for these lanes can review live cost signals on the EU fuel price map before committing tractors to a new East-West rotation.

Comparison table: nearshoring vs reshoring vs offshoring

How does nearshoring change road freight demand and lane patterns?

Nearshoring converts long ocean legs into medium-haul road legs, so the visible effect is more full-truckload and less-than-truckload movement over CEE-to-Western-Europe corridors. Volume that once landed at Rotterdam or Hamburg and dispersed from there now originates at a factory gate in Poland or Romania and runs straight to a Western European distribution centre. That concentrates demand on a smaller set of trunk routes and raises the value of dependable, well-planned capacity on them.

The complication is that road freight is already capacity-constrained. The IRU's 2025 driver shortage survey put unfilled truck driver positions in Europe at roughly 502,000, with shortages most acute in the eastern EU countries where nearshoring volume is growing fastest. Adding freight to lanes that are already short of drivers tightens capacity and firms up rates, which is why the IRU also noted contract rates overtaking spot rates in late 2025 as shippers moved to lock in capacity. Carriers managing these denser networks increasingly need TMS-level lane planning to sequence loads efficiently rather than chasing spot freight route by route.

Does nearshoring reduce empty running and backhaul imbalance for carriers?

It can, but only where the trade balances in both directions. Empty running, the share of vehicle-kilometres run with no load, remains a structural drag on EU road freight, and Eurostat's journey-characteristics data shows it still accounts for a meaningful slice of total distance. Historically, many CEE corridors ran heavy westbound with finished goods and light eastbound, forcing carriers to reposition empty or accept low-rate backhaul.

Nearshoring changes the arithmetic. As more production, components, and sub-assemblies move between CEE plants and Western European customers, and as raw materials and packaging flow eastbound to feed those plants, the potential for balanced round trips improves. The gain is not automatic: it depends on matching outbound and return loads on the same lane and time window. Carriers that plan networks holistically, rather than booking one leg at a time, capture the backhaul; those that do not still run empty. Shippers can support this by giving carriers visibility of return volumes and by using real-time shipment tracking so both legs are planned as one rotation rather than two separate spot bookings.

What are the risks of nearshoring for shippers and carriers?

A second risk is concentration: moving from a diversified global base to a narrow set of nearby suppliers can trade one dependency for another if a single region is disrupted. A third is cost: nearshored production is cheaper than reshoring but not free of the wage and property inflation that fast-growing CEE hubs are already seeing.

For carriers, the risk is misreading the shift as a short-term spike and under-investing in the lanes, or over-committing equipment to a corridor before the volume is contracted. The prudent approach is to treat nearshoring as a multi-year structural trend, secure anchor contracts with shippers reallocating volume, and keep enough network flexibility to rebalance if a specific hub cools.

How should carriers and shippers prepare for nearshoring-driven network changes?

Carriers should map where new manufacturing capacity is landing, model the round-trip economics of the resulting lanes rather than single legs, and pursue contract volume on the corridors most exposed to nearshoring growth. Positioning early on CEE-to-Western-Europe trunk routes, and building the driver and equipment base to serve them, is the difference between capturing the demand and buying it back at spot rates later. Carriers looking to formalise their position on these lanes can start by reviewing how to partner with Logifie as a carrier .

Shippers should give carriers longer planning horizons and honest volume forecasts, because dependable capacity on a tight lane is earned through predictability, not last-minute tenders. They should also value backhaul: a shipper who can offer a return load makes a lane far more attractive and cheaper. Both sides benefit from planning the whole network in software rather than in spreadsheets, so new lanes, fuel exposure by country, and backhaul opportunities are visible in one place.

Is nearshoring a permanent shift or a temporary correction?

The evidence points to a structural, multi-year shift rather than a temporary correction. The 2026 Capgemini survey shows reindustrialisation strategies moving from reaction to embedded policy, with nearly three-quarters of large organisations now committed, and EU-level industrial policy is reinforcing rather than reversing the direction. The precise mix moves year to year; Capgemini found European nearshoring intent easing from 55% in 2025 to 39% in 2026 while reshoring rose to 42%, reflecting a more selective, cost-aware phase rather than a retreat. For road freight, the net effect is the same either way: more manufacturing inside Europe means more volume moving by truck over internal corridors, and that trend has years to run.

Frequently asked questions

What is nearshoring in simple terms?

Nearshoring means moving production from a distant country to a nearby one, usually within the same region or trading bloc, to shorten supply lines while keeping costs lower than returning production all the way home. For Europe, that typically means relocating manufacturing from Asia to Central and Eastern Europe or the Mediterranean rim.

How does nearshoring affect road freight in Europe?

Nearshoring converts long ocean legs into medium-haul road legs, concentrating full-truckload and less-than-truckload demand on East-West corridors between CEE manufacturing hubs and Western European markets. It raises the value of dependable capacity and good lane planning on those routes.

Which European countries benefit most from nearshoring?

Poland, Czechia, Romania, Hungary, and Slovakia lead as Central and Eastern European hubs, with Spain, Portugal, and adjacent bases such as Morocco and Turkiye forming a Mediterranean cluster. Poland is the largest single market and the region's main freight anchor.

Is nearshoring the same as reshoring?

No. Reshoring brings production all the way back to a company's home country, while nearshoring relocates it to a nearby country rather than home. Both increase intra-European road freight, but reshoring produces more domestic and short-haul volume and nearshoring produces more cross-border corridor volume.

Does nearshoring reduce empty running for carriers?

It can, where trade balances in both directions. As components and raw materials flow eastbound to feed CEE plants and finished goods flow westbound, balanced round trips become more achievable, but only for carriers who plan outbound and return loads together rather than booking single legs.

Will nearshoring make road freight capacity tighter?

Likely yes on the fastest-growing lanes. The IRU reported roughly 502,000 unfilled driver positions in Europe in 2025, with shortages most acute in eastern EU countries, so adding volume to those corridors tightens capacity and firms up contract rates.

Is nearshoring a lasting trend or a short-term reaction?

The evidence points to a lasting, multi-year structural shift. The 2026 Capgemini survey shows reindustrialisation moving from crisis reaction to embedded strategy, and EU industrial policy is reinforcing the direction, so the road freight implications have years to run.

Nearshoring is redrawing Europe's freight map, and the carriers who plan whole networks rather than single loads will capture the new CEE and Mediterranean lanes first. See how Logifie's TMS platform supports lane re-planning and network optimisation so your fleet is positioned for the shift rather than chasing it.