The market economy and Poland’s accession to the European Union are among the many significant factors influencing decisions regarding the opening of the railway transport services market in our country. In accordance with the provisions of Article 43 of the Act on Rail Transport, business activities consisting of the carriage of persons or goods by rail, or the provision of traction vehicles, are subject to licensing.
Article 4, point 9 of the aforementioned Act states that a railway carrier is an entrepreneur who performs railway transport or provides traction vehicles. In 2007, the list of licensed carriers whose business activity is the transport of goods included 68 companies. A number of these entities were formed from the transformation of enterprises that performed railway transport services only for one branch of the economy, for example, mining (dealing with, among other things, the removal of stone to waste heaps or the delivery of sand for filling mine workings). There are also those that transformed into carriers from industrial departments handling rail transport on sidings or from companies dealing with freight forwarding and transshipment. The latter companies cooperated with the national railway carrier for many years. Their role was to acquire clients for railway transport services. These companies, (in terms of ownership) most often with private capital or with a minority stake held by PKP, strengthened their position relatively quickly. One of the elements of their earnings was obtaining a so-called margin on negotiated “discounts” in relation to the applicable railway freight tariff, which a new or individual client could not obtain. The discounts were largely dependent on the volume of transport carried out. Freight forwarding companies, acting on behalf of PKP and partly under its patronage, relatively quickly acquired a large circle of clients, thereby increasing the volume of transport performed. Bearing in mind the possibility of obtaining lower freight rates, direct clients of railway freight transport (especially those performing small shipments) commissioned these companies to perform forwarding services. Such a solution was used in many sectors of the economy in past years. However, while maintaining certain forms of market control, this did not pose a threat to transport companies and did not mean the loss of contact and mutual relations with the final client. At this point, it is necessary to cite the definition of forwarding contained in Article 749 of the Civil Code: “A freight forwarder undertakes, professionally and for remuneration, in their own name but on behalf of the principal, to send or receive a cargo shipment and other activities related to their handling or transport.” The basic service of freight forwarding companies is organizing the transport of goods within the country and abroad. The area of operation includes road, rail, sea, inland waterway, air, and intermodal transport. Organizing transport consists of finding a client, determining details regarding transport, negotiating the price for the service, and settling the service. The tasks of these companies also include searching for additional clients to ensure optimal use of the means of transport along the entire planned transport route. In the case of export and import of goods, they are responsible, among other things, for filling out customs forms and organizing customs clearance. As part of the services provided, they advise on matters of choosing transport management, the means of transport, and the transport route, often preparing the cargo for transport. A freight forwarding company, while performing its services, also plans the quantity and quality of the necessary means of individual transport branches for the implementation of a given service. Caring for its image in the Transport-Forwarding-Logistics (TSL) service market, a freight forwarding company should carry out these activities while maintaining high quality of the provided service and an adequate price. This rule cannot be just a slogan, but a consistently implemented principle, because a client who feels that the service was performed at a lower level than offered will certainly move to the competition – even if they had to pay more. It is very important that this rule is followed not only by company management but also by rank-and-file employees, on whom the image of the freight forwarding company, as well as the carrier itself, depends. Especially in cases where the freight forwarding company is very strongly linked to it by capital and, for example, is a subsidiary. The efficiency of organizing transport processes largely depends on knowledge of the transport market and knowledge of the technical and technological processes of the transport fields used to organize the movement of the client’s cargo.
The forwarding process is also defined as an ordered sequence of activities intended to ensure the delivery of goods from the place indicated by the client to the final recipient. This means that in this chain, the goods are subject to various processes that can be performed by one or several companies in different places. Given the complexity of some processes, one of the factors determining the success of all activities and the quality of the service provided is the flow of information. Proper information flow is important both between the links participating in a given service and the information provided to the client. Its absence at the right time, scope, and place, even if the service is ultimately performed, will worsen its quality and be negatively perceived by the client.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 2/2008.