The role of Polish road transport in supporting foreign trade has been systematically increasing over the last 50 years. A large increase was recorded after the socio-political and economic transformations of the 1989-1990 period. Nevertheless, a real transport boom occurred over the last two years. It should be linked to our country’s accession to the European Union on May 1, 2004.
During the PRL (Polish People’s Republic) era, the PEKAES company held a dominant, almost monopolistic position in the field of international road transport.
It was established in 1958 as the International Road Transport Enterprise (PMPS – “PEKAES”)1, with the aim of providing international road transport services for Polish foreign trade. In 1982, due to the international situation at the time (the threat of foreign creditors seizing state assets as a result of our country’s failure to repay foreign debt), the joint-stock company PEKAES Auto-Transport SA was established, which took over from PMPS – “PEKAES” the full scope
of services it provided, including the performance of international freight transport by trucks. In 1988
PEKAES Auto-Transport SA had about 1,300 tractor units adapted to handle international traffic,
especially in the western direction. There were about 2,000 such units in the country, meaning that PEKAES owned as many as 65% of them. The number of entities
possessing such vehicles was very limited at that time. Other significant owners included Polish Ocean Lines, which were, however, focused on moving containers, and the freight forwarding company C. Hartwig, which was just expanding its transport department. In addition, a certain amount of modern, specialized equipment was in the possession of companies exporting their products to the West
and therefore needing special vehicles. From this group, it is worth mentioning, among others, the Blachownia Chemical Plant
and the Breeding Animal Trade Enterprise.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 5/2006.