Our latest fleet renewal involved the purchase of 10 MAN D30 tractor units fitted with a new engine, which has enabled us to improve efficiency and safety through the incorporation of new active and passive safety technology.

Today we’d like to tell you that we’re continuing with the fleet renewal, but this time it’s the trailers’ turn. We’ve added 10 new isothermal tankers, which will replace part of our fleet.

These tankers are manufactured by Parcisa, part of the Polalsa Group, which has over 50 years’ experience in manufacturing this type of trailer.

These new units will enable us to increase the number of vehicles capable of carrying up to 32,000 litres or 44 tonnes in a single convoy, resulting in greater efficiency and cost savings per litre when transporting food-grade liquids.

Each of these trailers is fitted with external thermographs in each of the four compartments into which it is divided, making it easy to check the temperature from one of its sides.

This compartmentalisation plays an important role in safety as it helps to stabilise the load and minimise inertial forces caused by the shifting of liquids. All tankers are fitted with internal ribs that act as breakwaters for the liquid being transported, which is highly dangerous due to the inertial impacts it generates during braking, acceleration, and also when cornering and changing direction; however, the new tankers added to the fleet are fully compartmentalised, representing a further step towards reducing these inertial forces as it allows us to operate the tanker at half load, for example by completely filling two of the four compartments. This even makes it possible to diversify the type of load by transporting olive oil in two compartments and drinking water in the other two; or it is even possible to transport different types of oil in each of the compartments.

These units also join the ranks of vehicles capable of transporting higher-density food-grade liquids, such as glucose or high-density oils, as they are all equipped with lobe pumps capable of loading the 32,000 litres in a very short time.

Finally, these new tankers incorporate all the rollover prevention and safety measures in accordance with the latest regulations, such as the inclusion of pressure sensors on all tyres, which allow the driver to receive real-time information about the inflation pressure and temperature of each of the trailer’s tyres.

In this way, at Rios Sangiao we are continuing with our policy of incorporating the latest technical and technological improvements into our vehicles to improve efficiency and save costs. We are confident that this will help us to be even more reliable and, ultimately, to continue arriving on time every time.

August should be a quiet month of maintaining business levels, with activity picking up again in September without any major developments, but the truth is that this month is not like that.

We are living through a period of unprecedented global uncertainty due to armed conflicts and the stances taken by the main countries involved in them. Furthermore, we are in the midst of a major bilateral trade war over global economic hegemony. What could possibly go wrong?

Although old Europe isn’t fully embroiled in the ‘fight’ (for better or worse), it’s still taking the brunt of it. We felt the consequences at the time of the massive surge in commodity prices following the war in Ukraine, and fuel prices drove up the cost of everything else (apart from products such as cereals, which had already risen without any help).

Yesterday, fuel prices once again edged towards record highs when the United States decided that Iran had crossed its red line, but they were ultimately held in check by the mirage of an agreement between the opposing sides in the Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly 20 per cent of the world’s crude oil passes.

Today, that mirage is fading once more, like someone approaching an oasis in the desert, whilst crude oil is weighing ever more heavily on the pockets of half the world.

Meanwhile, in Spain, we in the transport sector – and, for our part, the food liquids transport sector – are once again relying on government promises that sound like support for the sector in the form of rebates and compensation for fuel price rises. We are working on it, but we know from past experience that it is difficult to finalise this support and that by the time the money starts to flow, too much time has already passed.

To be specific, diesel prices in Europe in the second quarter of 2026 rose by 27 per cent compared with the same period in 2025, reaching €2.19 per litre, causing operating costs to rise by approximately 10 per cent according to the French Comité National Routier, and this increase is set to be passed on to shippers.

As if that were not enough, as we mentioned in our previous post, road transport faces a significant shortage of skilled workers, amounting to 13 per cent of all vacancies. To put this into perspective, nearly half a million jobs need to be filled. This means that companies lack the flexibility to adapt to changes in demand, leading to higher operating costs.

So the outlook is not the best. There is high demand for the transport of liquid foodstuffs, but the challenges facing the sector are unpredictable and complex because the solution generally lies in macroeconomics.

Be that as it may, we will continue to do what we do best and remain committed to our customers.

Recently, the magazine *Transporte 3* highlighted a labour issue which, far from being confined to the road transport sector or the transport of liquid foodstuffs, is a cross-cutting problem in today’s labour market. This issue is work absenteeism.

The magazine reports that the employers’ organisation UNO Logística has detected all-time highs in absenteeism during 2025, with a rate of around 7.7 per cent – which translates to just over one and a half million people failing to turn up for work each day.

It is, in fact, a widespread problem affecting the national economy, resulting in very significant losses that hit small and medium-sized enterprises hardest, as they lack the financial and operational capacity to withstand such setbacks. Furthermore, the logistics sector is particularly hard hit due to the operational intensity of its activities.

At Rios Sangiao, we are no strangers to this issue and we strive to minimise it as much as possible within our means, working alongside our talent and transport departments. We endeavour to optimise the conditions in which our drivers carry out their work, using state-of-the-art vehicles that provide comfort and safety on the road and help to minimise ergonomic discomfort and the health risks that may arise from long hours behind the wheel. Furthermore, we are absolutely scrupulous about the rest periods stipulated by law, and we go beyond these as far as our operations allow.

The physical and mental wellbeing of our staff plays a decisive role in reducing the absenteeism that is prevalent in our sector and in other sectors.

We firmly believe that Rios Sangiao’s commitment to its staff must be mutual, and that we must function as a team in which each person strives to achieve the highest standard in their work, whilst the company recognises the value of each individual and looks after their wellbeing at work through talent retention policies that prevent staff turnover – which we mentioned recently in relation to holidays – and absenteeism due to sick leave caused by physical or mental health issues.

Ultimately, all of this results in a committed, stable and reliable service in which food liquid deliveries are made on time because both staff and machinery are looked after to the highest standard so that they are always available.

On 5 July, our town hosted the 5th Camiño Inglés Half Marathon, which includes a 10 km race for those who prefer a less demanding route than the 21-kilometre course.

Rios Sangiao, alongside other brands, has been sponsoring this sporting event for several editions now, in line with our policy of cooperation and social action within our local community.

With a successful turnout of over 300 registered participants, the race has established itself as a regular fixture on our community’s athletics calendar.

What makes this sporting event unique is that the route follows the Camino de Santiago in its entirety along the English Way, making it an event that combines sport, nature, heritage and the promotion of the area’s culture, with visibility enhanced by the high turnout and the sporting calibre of the participants.

In the women’s half-marathon category, Beatriz F.G. clocked a time of 1 hour 30 minutes and 34 seconds, whilst in the men’s category, Yago G. M. recorded a time of 1 hour 13 minutes and 37 seconds.

Ainoa G. I. took 39 minutes and 21 seconds to complete the 10 kilometres, whilst Fernando V. A. finished in 35 minutes and 24 seconds.

Several media outlets reported on the event, and officials such as Antonio Leira, head of the Sports Department at the Provincial Council of A Coruña; Álex Doval, mayor of Oroso; Óscar Rodríguez, Councillor for Safety and the Environment; Xabier Castro, a member of the board of the Tambre Athletics Club; and Antonio Riveira, head of security for the race and president of CD Móvete no Camiño.

Another successful event in terms of turnout and participation, of which we feel a part, and which helps to raise the profile and put our town on the map – a town of which we are deeply proud, as it was here that our food liquids transport company was founded over 40 years ago.

In Spain, ‘British punctuality’ is often cited as the gold standard for arriving on time at a destination, but the truth is that the British are not particularly special in this regard. If anything, it is we Spaniards who are the exception, as the concept of punctuality we have on the peninsula is rather unique.

In the road transport sector, punctuality is understood simply as a delivery arriving on the scheduled day – and that’s it. A delivery is scheduled for a specific day without further detail, but in our transport of liquid foodstuffs with deliveries across Europe, the concept changes radically.

At Rios Sangiao, we have been working for years with European clients on international transport routes, and in this market it is essential to understand from the outset that punctuality involves what we in Spain would call ‘exactness’. It is not enough for the goods to be delivered on the scheduled day; they must also be delivered at the scheduled time.

In most of the countries where we carry out transports of juices, milk and food liquids for human consumption in general, punctuality is expected to include a specific delivery time slot. Countries such as France, Germany, the Netherlands and even Italy do not accept ‘open-ended’ deliveries. In the deliveries we carry out, we form part of a large production chain that requires maximum coordination between its links to avoid production stoppages, which entail enormous subsequent start-up costs and a loss of efficiency and profitability.

Thus, it is common that when we deliver glucose to Germany, olive oil to northern France or juices to Italy, we have a specific time slot – which does not usually exceed one hour – for unloading or loading the goods. In this way, the product leaves the factory and is distributed without incurring storage costs for the producer. Alternatively, the product arrives at the factory and is processed without losing its properties due to storage time, during which oxidation or any other form of degradation might occur. Planning is key to efficiency.

Punctuality at the highest level

Delivery accuracy is even more critical in certain, even more complex environments such as Rotterdam, where we cover several routes. This city, with a port stretching over forty kilometres, is home to Europe’s most important land-sea logistics hub, and the volume of traffic and goods passing through this point is absolutely staggering: nearly 430 million tonnes handled annually and more than 100,000 vessels.

For all this activity to function smoothly, punctuality here demands that arrivals are calculated in minute-long windows, and departures and arrivals are fully monitored to ensure that everything is synchronised and runs like clockwork.

Although it is within the port area itself that the strictest controls are in place and delivery and collection windows are most tightly restricted, companies located on the outskirts of the port area are subject to very similar controls because, after all, they operate within the port and must therefore adapt to its rhythms,

so it does not matter if the Spanish wine – to give an example – that we might transport to Rotterdam does not go directly to the port, because the company where we unload it operates in a similar way to the entire logistics network in the area.

Working in this way demands professionalism and constant reviews of the transport department’s planning to fine-tune routes, timetables and efficiency as much as possible, coordinating our fleet with a level of detail that is unusual in domestic deliveries.

When we talk about on-time deliveries, at Rios Sangiao we’re really talking about precision.

Saint John’s Eve is just a few days away. It is not only one of the most important celebrations in Galicia—our place of origin—but it also marks the summer solstice. Even though days will start getting shorter again, this is the time when everyone enjoys, or looks forward to enjoying, a well-deserved vacation.

In the food-grade liquid transport sector, we cannot say that the workload slows down as it slightly does at the end of the year. As we recently shared, the main ingredient in ice cream is milk—in case you didn't know—and we specialize in transporting it from farms to factories. That is already a big slice of the pie, but the transport of olive oil, drinking water, or glucose are not services that see a drop in demand during the summer.

What mixes the summer cocktail is that, even though demand remains steady, our team also needs to kick back and relax under a palm tree in Santo Domingo… or under a grapevine in Baiona, which is surely just as pleasant.

How do we meet the same transport demand while heading out to Baiona? This is where staff scheduling, traffic planning, and another key ingredient of our cocktail come into play: driver labor market trends.

At the beginning of the year, we plan holidays and establish a shift system. This is often supplemented by hiring new drivers to optimize the number of team members enjoying their summer holidays. Fortunately, we can offer attractive incentives for food-grade liquid transport professionals, allowing us to fill vacancies quickly.

Furthermore, at Rios Sangiao, we have a clear talent retention policy. It is highly unusual for our drivers to "hang up the steering wheel" during July and August only to return in September. Commitment to our clients is a core value across the company, and we are certain that teamwork allows us to provide better conditions.

So, it doesn't matter when we need to deliver eight thousand litres of fresh milk to a factory, or ten thousand litres of olive oil to Rotterdam. We have everything ready thanks to the commitment of our team, especially the talent department, traffic management, and our drivers.

With June just a few days away and the summer solstice fast approaching, we’re already in the thick of the prime season for ice cream consumption, and its star ingredient is, quite literally, milk.

We’ve already moved on from the yoghurt ice cream craze; for a few years, everyone was eating the same ice cream, with the only variation being a few toppings that made for a highly profitable combination for brands that grew at breakneck speed. But traditional ice cream parlours also capitalised on that craze and gained significant momentum, which enabled many to stay in business and consolidate their position.

Today, ice cream is no longer a seasonal product as it was a decade ago, and its peak consumption in summer is extraordinary, giving an extra boost to milk production and transport and helping to absorb a supply that sometimes exceeds demand.

We all think that milk gives ice cream its characteristic flavour, nutrients and creaminess, but it also provides functional molecules that are essential for the production and preservation of ice cream, for which fats and proteins are responsible.

Good milk for ice cream production would be milk with good organoleptic characteristics and consistent, constant protein levels across all production batches. In this way, the same production process will result in a predictable flavour and texture in line with consumer expectations.

To achieve this, it is important to maintain processes and supply points, whilst ensuring that milk is transported with the utmost care so as not to alter its properties. We have previously discussed here how we collect milk from farms, as well as the strict temperature controls required during milk handling and storage times.

A change in the properties of the milk can ruin entire production batches of dairy products, such as ice cream, altering crucial aspects like flavour and consistency, with significant costs in terms of product loss and damage to reputation.

MEPs on the Transport Committee have proposed a reduction in tolls of up to 75% for sustainable heavy goods vehicles.

This proposal has come a long way since it was first mooted, which began with free tolls for electric lorries until June 2031; but we already know that the roll-out of this type of vehicle has been slower than expected and that its implementation is more complex than anticipated, partly due to a lack of charging infrastructure. Therefore, in an attempt to extend the benefits to less polluting combustion-powered transport, the discount has been extended to a 75% reduction in tolls for efficient vehicles, and this includes trailers and semi-trailers.

At Rios Sangiao, we provide our food liquid transport services using isothermal tankers capable of maintaining the load’s temperature for 72 hours with fluctuations of less than 2°C. Without refrigeration units. We see efficiency in this operation as our trailers consume neither fuel nor electricity to maintain a stable temperature.

However, the European directive on the efficiency of trailers and semi-trailers stipulates that only trailers equipped with electric refrigeration technology are eligible for these incentives.

We would like to point out here that ‘zero consumption’ is more sustainable than reduced consumption, and our state-of-the-art isothermal tankers represent the highest level of efficiency in the temperature-controlled transport of liquid foodstuffs.

International conflicts such as those in Ukraine or, more recently, Iran are having a significant impact on the food liquids transport sector through rising fuel and raw material prices.

As documented by UETR, logistics and transport companies are on the front line of the energy crisis, bearing the direct and immediate brunt of the additional costs arising from the sudden rise in fuel prices.

Furthermore, we are finding it difficult to pass on these costs to the services we provide with the same speed, either due to the existence of approved framework contracts or because of the disparity among carriers when it comes to applying these increases to rates.

UETR calls for direct aid and European coordination

In light of this situation, the UETR is calling for the urgent adoption of support measures at national and European level, such as:

• Direct financial support for transport companies
• Simplified eligibility criteria for SMEs
• Effective mechanisms for passing on costs within the logistics chain

Formula for passing on fuel surcharges

On 16 April, the decree-law came into force that enshrines the obligation to adjust transport prices in line with fuel price fluctuations. Thus, this law ensures that transport prices are updated solely using the formula for passing on the cost of diesel. This requirement has been in place since 2022, but the new decree removes the possibility of contracts including any other method of updating prices.

As has been the case, this adjustment must be made when the change in diesel prices is 5% or more between the date the contract is signed and the time the transport takes place, and must be itemised on the service invoice.

Failure to comply with this new regulation may result in fines for shippers ranging from €401 to €6,000, which may rise to €18,000 in the event of a repeat offence within a year.

The formula

The variation in the contracted transport price is calculated by multiplying the change in the diesel price between the week the contract was signed and the week the transport took place (this percentage is provided on the Ministry’s website), by the transport price set out in the contract, by a coefficient(which we will look at below). The result of this calculation must then be divided by 100.

The coefficient by which the transport price and the change in diesel prices must be multiplied depends on the vehicle’s maximum authorised mass (MAM) and the pre-tax price of diesel. In any case, this is indicated on the Ministry’s website.

At Rios Sangiao, as is only to be expected, we adhere to current legislation and apply this formula to all the services we currently operate, ensuring that the prices for our food liquid transport services are as fair as possible for all parties.

We are confident that we will soon see a return to stability in fuel prices and, of course, that the armed conflicts causing these losses for economic areas such as ours will cease as soon as possible.

This March we have been extremely busy with our usual workload, plus the added task of preparing the documentation for accreditation against the quality standards required to obtain IFS Logistics certification.

This certification is aimed at transport and storage logistics companies. It focuses on activities involving storage, distribution and transport, as well as the loading and unloading of goods.

What does the IFS Logistics certification entail?

This standard ensures that quality remains consistent throughout the food sector’s production chains. With this certification, we demonstrate full compliance with safety, quality and legal regulations regarding the transportof liquid foodstuffs.

IFS (International Food Standard) certification is based on the ISO 9001:2000 standard, which incorporates legal safety requirements, principles of good manufacturing practice and HACCP risk analysis processes within a quality management framework.

The current IFS Logistics standard is in its second version and was published in 2012. It was developed to fill the gap in the foodchainfor logisticsactivitiesnot regulatedbyanyinternationalstandardand applies to road, rail, river, sea and air transport.

The aim of obtaining certification under this standard is to ensure transparency regarding our quality management processes and to enable our clients to engage us as suppliers of liquid food transport services, havingmet allqualitystandardsthathave been previously audited externally.

The certification saves on future administrative procedures and simplifies processes in work environments where traceability and quality control are subject to constant monitoring.

This standard is important for all food companies, whether producers or distributors, and particularly for those working with perishable products or requiring delicate logistics to preserve their characteristics.

At Rios Sangiao, we continue to innovate and demonstrate the qualityof our processes to ensure and showcase excellence in everything we do.