Girteka opens Romanian unit as driver shortage reshapes European road freight operations
Lithuanian road freight group Girteka has established a subsidiary in Oradea as it shifts part of its European transport operations to Romania and Latvia. The company says access to professional drivers, rather than regulatory or pay differences, is driving the move.
Oradea becomes a new operating base
Lithuanian road transport and logistics group Girteka has entered Romania through a subsidiary based in Oradea, adding a local operating presence to a market already covered by its European transport network. Profit.ro reported that the company is moving part of its transport operations to Oradea and Riga, Latvia, as it adjusts its European operating model to changing labour-market conditions and a persistent shortage of professional drivers.
Girteka told Lithuanian business publication Verslo Žinios that the decision was not prompted by differences in regulation or pay. The group said it evaluates the overall business environment and currently considers the ability to secure enough drivers for its fleet and customers to be one of the most important factors. Distributing operations between additional locations is expected to give Girteka greater flexibility in supplying resources for activities across Europe.
The company has already registered almost 100 trucks in Latvia. In Romania, it is preparing to register vehicles and hire its first drivers, according to Profit.ro. The report did not specify the planned number of Romanian vehicles, employees or the timetable for building up the Oradea operation.
Driver availability shapes location decisions
The move comes as European hauliers struggle to fill driving positions. Profit.ro cited the International Road Transport Union as estimating that Europe lacked approximately 502,000 truck drivers in 2025, equal to about 13% of the workforce required by the sector. For fleet-based operators, vacancies can leave expensive vehicles underused and constrain the capacity available to customers even when freight demand remains present.
Girteka has served Romania through its transport network since the 2000s, but had not previously maintained a branch in the country. Establishing the Oradea subsidiary moves the group from serving Romanian routes externally to recruiting, registering assets and managing at least part of its operations locally. Its arrival could widen competition for qualified drivers while adding the resources of a large international fleet to Romania’s road freight market.
A large owned fleet behind the expansion
Founded in Vilnius in 1996 by entrepreneur Mindaugas Raila, now chairman of Girteka Group, the company operates mainly with its own full-truckload fleet. It specialises in temperature-controlled and high-value cargo and lists Nestlé, IKEA and Unilever among its customers. Girteka’s published data for 2025 showed approximately 6,500 trucks, 8,000 semi-trailers and more than 15,000 employees, with operations across European and Nordic markets and a significant base in Poland.
The group has also continued renewing its equipment. In May 2025, it signed an agreement for 2,000 new Volvo trucks, described as Europe’s largest single truck order that year, with deliveries due by 31 December. Girteka had previously bought 2,000 Volvo trucks in 2017. It also concluded a long-term agreement for 500 Mercedes-Benz trucks and secured €250 million in financing for fleet modernisation.
During the first half of 2026, Girteka completed more than 334,000 transports and increased its customer count by almost 10% to more than 5,000, Profit.ro reported. Girteka Group recorded revenue of €1.3 billion in the previous year, down from €1.4 billion, and a loss of €12.4 million. The Romanian opening therefore combines geographic expansion with a practical effort to keep a large, recently modernised fleet staffed and productive.
