Freight shall adjudicate on disputes

23.11.2012

It is not often the case that attempts to reach one goal make joint venturers within one project fall at loggerheads... Therefore the choice of a place to confront the views on the significance and prospects of intermodal transportation was excellent. A conference in "Fabryka Sztuk" ("Arts' Factory") in Tczew, organised by the Mayors of Gdynia and Tczew, was held under the banner of "Bothnian Green Logistics Corridor", and Andrzej Massel, Deputy Minister of Transport, Construction and Maritime Economy became the honorary patron of the event. Representatives of companies soliciting a substantial share in cargo transportation met to evaluate the role of dry ports in Poland, as components of ecological transport corridors of the Baltic Europe. The 19th century walls of the original headquarters of Emil Kelch's Metalware Factory (Fabryka Wyrobow Metalowych), which has recently been adapted for a Polish cultural institution of the Vistula-bordering Tczew, reflect coexistence of modernity with history in a single monument - just like with transport solutions, which need the cohabitation of techniques proven in the technologically advanced world with the offer of economies wishing to catch up with their competitors.

The European dimension of the problem was signified by the matters taken up, concerning the planned TEN-T network or the Baltic-Adriatic railway corridors (E-65, CE-65). The ways to increase the transport potential seemed similar from the point of view of those creating the economic regions' development strategy, as well as the partners responsible for the organisation and operation of road and rail transport. There was even a place for inland navigation, neglected throughout the country. However, maritime ports and port operators view the essence of partnership in a slightly different manner. In railway transportation - as it was emphasised - apart from the time required to transport cargo, the most crucial factor is the cost. Thus, although proliferating logistic bases are elements that might be conducive to cargo transport efficiency, each of them is simultaneously yet another intermediary in the transportation chain. If the cost of an additional link is balanced with savings resulting from shortening transportation time - such links may be accepted by cargo owners. Lack of financial results will make them feel inclined to eliminate an intermediary. Such a situation has been anticipated by ports, which are building (or planning to build) their own railway sidings, car parks and river havens capable of receiving full drafts of cars and a significant number of truck tractors or barges for throughput.

Economic development fuels the demand for transport services - in the same manner as the development of transport drives the development of economy. However, transport is a cost factor of goods and services; that is why there is the need to standardise and maximise transport processes. Container as such has become an almost ideal symbol of the need understood only in recent years, as it can easily be adapted for use with all means of transport employed at present. A unique dynamics of world container transportation makes one incessantly search for economically and ecologically optimal transport solutions. Potential partners of the transport chain in Europe unanimously forecast manifold intensification of transport traffic in the Baltic region. Transport network density, as well as the intensity of developing intermodal structures will be a simple function of economic mathematics. It is freight that will decide on the choice of transport routes and technical means. And it is the rates of combined freight that will soon reconcile parties to the dispute over the future of dry ports in Poland.

Janusz Kasprowicz
PGS SA PR Officer