Range of technical-economic competitiveness of rail-road combined transport

Abstract Purpose Road haulage has been the most widely used mode of freight transport in many European countries for several decades. Given the attention to sustainable transport in this century, the rail-road combined transport may result to be a good alternative, under specific conditions, to road haulage. This paper analyses the main conditions to make the option competitive, using a simplified method useful for the stakeholders involved in decision processes. Method Relevant cost items have been identified since previous studies available in literature. The proposed formulas consider the different phases of transport chain and have been used to investigate such parameters as the external costs and the location of terminals. Results If the pre- and post-phases are too long or simply too onerous, the economic advantages of the rail section may not be sufficient to guarantee the convenience of the combined transport. It can be economically competitive over long distances, even when the drayage covers greater distances. Conclusions The method has been used to examine those situations, in terms of distance covered and frequency of the service, in which rail-road combined transport can be cost-effective as an alternative to the full-road solution. The obtained range can be reviewed based on the services, such as shuttle trains to connect seaports with dry ports: the short distance covered may be more convenient due to the high quantities of goods as well as the fixed train composition and path allocation, which means lower terminal cost and times. Finally, some innovative proposals have been introduced

Technical, economic and energetic competitiveness of rail-road combined transport: evaluation of the effects of possible ITS applications on intermodal terminal.

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Intermodal vs. conventional logistic of refrigerated products: a case study from Southern to Northern Europe

Most of perishable goods, such as fruit and vegetables, are transported in Europe by truck and clogging up the main road networks. The increasing demand for freight transport and the environmental concerns all indicate the necessity to embrace new means of transport such as the intermodal one. The intermodal transport uses swap bodies and reefer containers that allow for the use of interchangeable truck, train, and ship to reduce direct and external costs. Nowadays, the utilization of exclusive truck transport is due to its considerable flexibility and often to the disregard of the motor vehicle regulations during transport. This research aims to analyze some essential readjustments that must be made in order to increase efficiency in the logistic of refrigerated fruit and vegetables. To do so, some hypotheses were analyzed and formulated in which the strategic use of the truck was recognized and inserted as part of an intermodal transport system. The transport options of a combined use of ships and trains in association with trucks were evaluated with respect to the current prevalent solution of exclusive use of trucks. Such options were evaluated by comparing them under different itineraries hypotheses (from south Italy, Sicily to Germany, Munich) on the base of costs and transit-times parameters. This was done mainly throughout interviewing sector-relevant transport operators. The results of the comparison between the intermodal and conventional transport was shown to be economically more convenient with respect to both legal and illegal transport by exclusive truck transport, presenting lower per unit costs (swap body or semi-trailer, containing the same amount of goods). Moreover, the intermodal solution scores equal or higher transit times in the comparison with the “transit by regulation compliance” and much higher transit times if compared with the “illegal” option. Therefore, the regulation compliance aspect would partially promote the use of intermodal options in a future fair competition. In addition, besides reducing the direct costs, it produces several other positive effects in terms of external costs to the society such as to reduce road crashes, noises, atmospheric emissions and greenhouse effect. A more efficient system should plan an integrated system of arrival and departure organizing together the schedules of ships and trains dedicated to perishable goods and increasing the transported amounts. Furthermore, another idea is to stipulate commercial agreements with train operators, applying a reduction on the base price, by ensuring the delivery of a block train for an arranged period.   Keywords: Intermodal, freight logisticcentre, truck haulage, rail hub; terminal

Rail-Road terminal locations: aggregation errors and best potential locations on large networks

In network location problems, the number of potential locations is often too large in order to find a solution in a reasonable computing time. That is why aggregation techniques are often used to reduce the number of nodes. This reduction of the size of the location problems makes them more computationally tractable, but aggregation introduces errors into the solutions. Some of these errors will be estimated in this paper. A method that helps to isolate the best potential locations for rail-road terminals embedded in a hub-and-spoke network will further be outlined. Hub location problems arise when it is desirable to consolidate flows at certain locations called hubs. The basic idea is to use the flows of commodities and their geographic spreading as input to determine a set of potential locations for hub terminals. The exercise will be done for the trans-European networks. These potential locations can then further be used as input by an optimal location method

Links between production systems and transport : the example of German and French industries

Changes in transportation are closely linked to the economic and logistical characteristics of the production system. The aim of this paper is, on the basis of data on the economic context and surveys conducted in France (the 1988 Shipper survey and the 2004 ECHO survey) and in Germany (the 2005 DLR survey), to show the major changes that have occurred in the two countries at both micro- and macro-economic levels and how these have affected transport demand. The first level of analysis relates to changes in the economic fabric. In particular, we have demonstrated the growing proportion of small and medium-sized firms at a time when large production units, which are those that are best able to concentrate their freight and use modes other than the road, are becoming fewer and fewer. At the same time, economic links are becoming more complex and, in the case of France, we have shown the increasing role played by wholesale traders in the distribution of goods. The constant reduction in transport costs and the opening up of markets is another structural factor whose impacts in both France and Germany we have also analysed. In addition to these economic changes, the internal modes of production of firms have also changed. Production is becoming more diversified and Just-in-time practices are spreading. The fragmentation of freight flows is thus occurring both in space and in time, which also has a major effect on the characteristics of the flows generated by firms and changes in transport. In the case of all these changes we have attempted to show the differences and similarities between the ways transport has changed in the two countries.TRANSPORT DE MARCHANDISES ; ALLEMAGNE ; FRANCE

The Last Mile Concept for the Bydgoszcz Logistics Hub

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to discuss the last mile concept for the proposed Bydgoszcz Logistics Hub in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie region, and thus to present the forecast distribution of goods within the last mile from and to the Hub, and to indicate the role that it could play in the region.Method: The development of the last mile concept for the Bydgoszcz Logistics Hub was based on secondary data. The first two stages of work, not discussed in this article, included case studies of 6 successfully operating foreign and domestic transhipment terminals and an analysis of the supply and demand for transport in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship. The third stage, the results of which are presented in this article, involved the identification of the most important national centres generating supply and demand for transport within a radius of 280 km from the Hub. Data, allowing to estimate the potential demand for the fright transport on the analysed routes and their costs depending on the mode of transport, came mainly from the Central Statistical Office, the Railway Transport Office, the General Board of National Roads, the National Bank of Poland and Port of Gdynia and Gdańsk Authorities.Results: The data show that in the period covered by the forecast (2019-2034), the most important change in the transport model of the Hub service area will be a significant increase in inland waterways transport of the Vistula River.Conclusions: The forecast operation of the last mile for the Bydgoszcz Logistics Hub justifies the reloading, storage and forwarding of goods in the area of the Bydgoszcz-Toruń agglomeration. The construction of the Bydgoszcz Logistic Hub will bring improvement to the already existing road links leading to the most important logistic centres, located, on the one hand, in the Tricity seaports, on the other hand, in large economic centres in Poznań, Łódź and Warsaw.Keywords: Baltic Sea Region, combine transport, logistics hub, last milePaper type: Research pape

Monitoring truck's operations at freight intermodal terminals: traffic observation by scanning on-board devices

Monitoring operations at freight intermodal terminals are useful for estimating their performance, while collecting traffic data allows them to properly manage and control truck flows. Nevertheless, the key role of observation can be in contrast with users' privacy. A valuable solution to obtain traffic information preserving players' anonymity may be provided by scanning radio signals emitted by commonly used on-board devices, which can be locally identified by their unique media access control address. In this solution, no personal, freight or vehicle information is collected. An uncommon application of bluetooth scanners for monitoring operation of truck flows inside terminals is presented, based on a simple methodology for data processing. The algorithm starts from the data collection and the selection of information at relevant points of the terminal, then the network observation is composed by matching the data recorded in connected points. Finally, key performance indicators are estimated, starting from vehicle trajectories, node by node, and their travel time. The method is applied with on-field tests in a large-size rail-road terminal, where the detected counting results are lower than the ground truth, being not all the users equipped with bluetooth devices; however, the pioneering application results replicable in other contexts related to logistics

Hinterland transportation in Europe: Combined transport versus road transport

The dominance of road for hinterland services could be challenged by using rail-road or waterway-road transport because of costs, congestion and growing environmental constraints. A common dynamic that is very favorable to the development of combined transport is shared among the actors of the transport chain but with different starting positions considering the ports of the Northern Range. But combined transport must still demonstrate that it can compete with road transport. Road transport and combined transport are not directly comparable because they do not offer the same physical transport service. The organizational patterns of road and combined transport are investigated. The example of hinterland services to and from the port of Le Havre to the Paris region is a particularly interesting case because of the very short distance. It is shown that the competitiveness of combined transport in terms of price varies greatly according to the way road transport it competes with is organized and that the commercial policy of combined transport operators plays a key role for explaining this competitiveness. Additional services such as additional dwelling times and specific custom advantages are paramount of importance to encourage the shift from road transport to combined transport