In land-based logistics networks, the transport of general cargo suitable for containerization is dominated by road transport. The share of intermodal transport is disproportionately low in relation to the capacity of these networks and the efficiency of transshipment terminals, as well as in relation to social needs related to the necessity of making transport infrastructure available to other types of users, preventing its degradation, increasing road safety, or reducing the harmful impact of transport on the environment. This state of affairs is perpetuated by objective phenomena related to the market behavior of companies selling and buying transport and forwarding services. Therefore, the share of intermodal transport in the total volume of freight transport generally does not exceed a few percent. In countries that recognize this problem and try to counteract it by applying various intervention measures, it ranges from 5 to 15%. In Poland, which does not do this, it does not exceed 2%, and this result is mainly due to international transport.
The conditions for improving the competitiveness of intermodal container transport are determined by three factors:
• transport time competitiveness
• transport cost competitiveness
• standards in intermodal transport.
An analysis of the intervention mechanisms used leads to the conclusion that the decisive factor is the cost of transport. Is this really the case?
Time and cost competitiveness of transport
Figures 1 and 2 show the time parameters of transport for selected domestic rail freight connections. Table 1 presents an analysis of the time and cost of container transport by road on similar routes. Subsequently, the time and cost of transport on selected routes were compared. The results of the analyses are presented in Tables 2 and 3. The analysis shows that rail transport is cost-competitive but not time-competitive. Its cost advantage would be even more visible if all external costs were included in road transport, which is generally not done due to the difficulties in calculating them. However, in practice, the dominant factor in the choice is time. This factor weighs particularly heavily in transport over shorter distances. The results of the analysis are interesting because the actions taken by a number of European countries to increase the volume of intermodal transport are organizational, legislative, and financial in nature, with the latter occurring in most cases and often taking the form of subsidies for this type of transport [1, 2]. The effect of these actions is a significantly higher number of intermodal transports in these countries than in Poland. It is often emphasized that intermodal transport requires subsidies. Meanwhile, the analysis suggests that it is not the cost of transport, but the transport time that is the weighing factor when choosing a transport solution.
The role of standards in intermodal transport
The scope of the comparative analysis of the costs and time of rail and road transport leads to the conclusion that there are likely additional factors affecting the low competitiveness of intermodal transport. These factors include all kinds of barriers that extend transport time, and consequently, the inability of the forwarder to provide the expected level of service, in which punctuality and reliability of delivery, as well as delivery time competitive with road transport, are important.