This article attempts to determine the competitive situation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in transport in the context of the process of quantitative and qualitative changes taking place in Poland and in international logistics. In this area, both in the past years and today, major changes are being observed, and in many companies, it is becoming necessary to make strategic decisions regarding the scope and method of performing functions related to the movement of goods. Undoubtedly, the transport strategies of enterprises will to a large extent determine the future of the road freight transport sector. Therefore, it should be considered that it is purposeful to address transport issues against the background of restructuring processes of economic entities and the entire economic system in Poland in the context of accession to EU structures.
The creation and development of many transport SMEs is the result of deregulation and privatization processes in the transport market, as well as the removal of many barriers in the process of creating such companies. A positive effect of these processes is the growing competition in the market, which determines the prices of offered services, as well as the need to increase their quality. A negative phenomenon, however, is the weakness of the capital resources of these enterprises, a small (on average 1-2 vehicles) and technically obsolete fleet, and a lack of appropriate conditions for changing operating strategies and development, which would enable effective competition with carriers possessing greater transport and transport-related potential. The scope of services provided by these companies is not very diverse and the quality is usually low. Most often, these are transport and forwarding services, rarely combined with warehousing functions. These enterprises generally compete on price, which negatively affects safety and the quality of customer service, not to mention the negative impact of an obsolete fleet on the natural environment. These companies, therefore, have little chance of becoming true logistics operators in the future. Some of them may survive in the market by merging with other companies or may be absorbed by larger logistics enterprises, or alternatively, specialize in serving specific market niches. A significant portion of them, unfortunately, faces liquidation, primarily due to the inability to meet the requirements of EU legal regulations regarding the performance of both domestic and international transport.
The extent to which the transport offer of SMEs meets the requirements of supply chain participants determines the competitive advantage of these firms. The consequence of such an approach by transport companies should be a change in their offer to meet the growing demand for logistics services. Studies have shown that nearly half of Polish transport enterprises declare that they provide logistics services, however, these studies are not entirely reliable because companies often equate logistics only with the provision of transport, forwarding, and warehousing services.
They therefore use the term “logistics” more as an advertising slogan, behind which there are no real actions in this sphere. A factor influencing the competitiveness of Polish carriers in the SME sector is undoubtedly changes in regulations, the unclear interpretations of which cause carriers to often focus on overcoming the above difficulties rather than building a strategy for the next few or several years ahead (e.g., the controversial Road Transport Act of September 9, 2001, with numerous “cosmetic” modifications). This raises justified concern among enterprises regarding their ability to compete with foreign companies that were already present and can now operate to a much greater extent on the Polish transport market after its opening in May 2004.
It is common knowledge that small transport companies struggle with the problem of financial liquidity. With such high fragmentation, characteristic of the Polish TSL services sector, only those economic entities that can guarantee the possibility of so-called “continuity” of service provision will remain in the market. This is, of course, not simple, because the supply side of the sector has been in a phase of saturation for quite some time. It is also worth mentioning the basic burdens imposed by the State on carriers, that is, taxes and other fees resulting from the State’s fiscal policy: tax on means of transport, corporate/personal income tax, customs duties on the import of means of transport, value-added tax, excise tax on fuels, real estate tax, registration fees, license fees, professional competence certificates, vignettes (fees for using national roads in international traffic), and environmental fees – in the perspective of the coming years, these will be particularly burdensome for the transport environment (ECMT guidelines). With such high burdens and the rise in prices and inflation over the last few years, freight rates for services have not increased, and in fact, a downward trend is observed. Worse still, transport costs related to waiting for return cargo are increasing significantly. Speaking of price increases, one must point primarily to the recently noted spectacular rise in fuel prices. And in the structure of cost types, the cost of fuel is at the level of about 30 – 40%. One of the consequences of Poland’s adoption of Community principles for the functioning of the economy is an even wider opening of the market to foreign companies. Most Polish transport operators are not prepared for integration with the EU market, nor are they able to meet customer expectations and face strong and well-organized foreign competition. Changing this situation requires deep structural and organizational changes in transport and forwarding enterprises.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 2/2005.