The quality of services in modern economic processes is of significant and multifaceted importance. The increasing demands placed by users on services related to the movement of goods, particularly in the field of transport, forwarding, and logistics, force companies providing such services to seek new, more competitive solutions that could improve their quality level.
On the other hand, the quality of services in the TSL sector should not be considered solely from the perspective of the sector itself or even the market, as the nature and strength of their impact are much deeper than it might seem; rather, it should also be the subject of much broader considerations related to issues represented by the concept of sustainable development. While sustainable transport development is a concept of integrating ecological, social, and economic goals considered from the perspective of, for example, the transport policy of individual governments or the European Union, it is also becoming, as shown by the author’s research, a subject of interest for some TSL sector companies in the context of the quality of services they provide.
The purpose of this article is to present the results of the author’s research on service quality among TSL sector companies, with particular emphasis on the principles of sustainable transport development in the conditions of the Polish market. The subject of the author’s considerations is an analysis of the nature and essence of the relationship that exists between sustainable transport development and service quality in TSL sector companies.
Genesis and development of the concept of sustainable transport development
The concept of sustainable transport development, which is the fruit of humanity’s economic search for coexistence with nature, aims to ensure an appropriate level of mobility for goods and people in society with the lowest possible environmental burden and is undoubtedly a key issue to be solved. The concept of sustainable transport development is linked to the conditions for ensuring stable economic development, in which the TSL sector makes a significant contribution by helping to expand circles of prosperity while simultaneously respecting natural resources. The TSL sector and the level of quality of services provided are currently one of the most important factors determining the economic existence of humanity. Today, most human economic activities are associated with the need to move goods and people and are under increasing pressure related to the protection of the natural environment. In such a situation, there is an urgent need to adapt the functioning of the TSL sector, and more precisely the level of service quality, to the requirements set by the natural environment.
The concept of sustainable development is an issue derived from the 1969 UN report, known as the U Thant report. The beginning of a change in thinking about natural environmental resources and a key moment in the evolution of views on this issue was the 1973 energy crisis. The sharp increase in oil prices by OPEC countries made societies in many countries aware that the integration of environmental protection goals as a separate and most important field of life must be taken into account. Neither the vision of halting the economic development of transport-forwarding-logistics and continuing to function in deteriorating environmental conditions, nor the vision of super-development of this economic sector in a polluted environment meets social expectations. Thus, the concept of sustainable development was born, the basis of which is the integration of the pursuit of increased prosperity and the improvement of the state of the natural environment. The concept of sustainable development is therefore based on:
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economic efficiency – profit for the community taking into account social and environmental costs
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care for the environment – protection of natural, non-renewable resources, minimization of negative impact on the surroundings
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social balance – creating new jobs and active measures to improve the quality of life.
Sustainable transport development should enable the integration of goals related to the pursuit of achieving a satisfactory economic result for companies providing services related to transport-forwarding-logistics on the one hand, and deep concern for the social environment and the natural environment on the other.
The very concept of sustainable development appeared for the first time at the Stockholm Conference in 1972, and was precisely formulated at the 3rd session of the UN Environment Programme Governing Council in 1975. Officially, the concept of sustainable development was adopted at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro only in 1992. The fruit of the summit was the adoption of a global action program entitled Agenda 21 – Program for the 21st Century; 3 main principles are listed here on which sustainable development actions are based:
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solidarity of all people – both in space (that is, today at the local, regional, national, or global level) and in time (that is, between current and future generations)
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orientation towards future generations – choices made today cannot limit the freedom of all future participants in socio-economic life
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participation – involvement of all participants in socio-economic life in the region.
The concept of sustainable development has also been reflected in the highest legal act in Poland, namely the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, where Article 5 states that “The Republic of Poland (…) ensures the protection of the environment, guided by the principle of sustainable development”. At the same time, Poland adopted the statutory obligation of the Rio de Janeiro provisions in the form of Agenda 21 – Program for the 21st Century in the Act of April 27, 2001 – Environmental Protection Law, which defined the concept of sustainable development as socio-economic development in which the process of integrating political, economic, and social actions takes place while maintaining natural balance and the durability of basic natural processes, in order to balance the chances of access to the environment for individual communities or citizens – both current and future generations.
The article comes from the journal “Logistyka” 6/2009.