The modern transport services market is very demanding. The survival and development of companies operating within it necessitate meeting high customer requirements regarding the quality of services provided. Meeting customer expectations requires moving away from the traditional understanding of transport services, raising existing standards, and implementing a full market orientation within the company. To compete with road transport, rail freight companies must significantly change the quality and scope of the services they provide.
Customers increasingly demand a single, clearly identified, and reliable transport service partner, as well as transparent transport chains in domestic and international freight traffic. They expect a defined level of service quality and a price adequate to it.
The activities of rail transport companies should be primarily directed towards gaining a competitive advantage through:
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a broader participation in the supply chain
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the creation of logistics centers and the organization of hubs for transshipment operations and logistics services, as well as modern container terminals
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modernization and investment projects regarding rolling stock and traction, as well as modern technologies
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enriching the company’s offer with new logistics products
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ensuring a high level of logistics customer service.
Rail carriers should strive to ensure that the services provided by companies play an increasingly key role in the transport chain. To achieve this, it is necessary to reach individual customers and propose a comprehensive service in which, in addition to the carrier, other entities involved in freight handling would participate. This cooperation must begin at the stage of commercial negotiations, and its primary goal is to ensure the possibility of executing the contract as a logistics project, taking into account various types of transport modes, transshipment, storage and packaging of goods, quality testing, organization and cooperation of individual subcontractors of the logistics process, etc. Such a solution certainly has a very important advantage: the final costs of a comprehensive service are significantly lower than services performed under separate orders. For the implementation of most such services, an important issue is the fastest possible creation of logistics centers by rail transport companies in locations that generate large cargo flows. One of the six identified locations is Małaszewicze.
Most of the elements of the strategy of modern transport companies mentioned and partially characterized constitute one of the more expensive parts of their operation due to the necessity of incurring various types of expenditures, which is particularly visible when creating international logistics centers. The example of such an entity in Duisburg, where over 236 million euros were spent on its creation between 1998 and 2003, shows that construction exceeds the capabilities of individual entrepreneurs, and implementation in current times requires the involvement of not only capital and the actions of private companies, but also local authorities, scientific institutions, as well as state and EU authorities. The support of the latter should be not only financial, as was the case in Italy, where the Italian government can boast of effective investments (over 362 million euros) in logistics centers in 10 strategic locations and significant subsidies for rail transport itself, but also legislative initiative enabling the development of rail-based logistics. Such actions are primarily aimed at increasing the competitiveness of rail transport and leveling the playing field in relation to road transport, which until now has had a significant advantage in this respect, primarily due to the lack of necessity to bear the costs of creating and maintaining linear infrastructure.
With this in mind, PKP CARGO SA plans to take a position more as an initiator than a builder of logistics centers, and investments in individual locations are aimed at developing elements strategic for the company that support the carrier’s core business, while simultaneously increasing the quality of services and intended to support the creation of logistics centers (for example, preparing land for investors or plans for innovative initiatives). One of the most significant assets of PKP CARGO SA in actions aimed at their implementation is the possibility of access to land and PKP SA infrastructure in investment-attractive locations. In particular, in the scope of developing logistics services using rail freight transport. A large amount of this real estate currently constitutes wasteland or is used to a small extent. The plans of PKP CARGO SA provide a chance for the revitalization of facilities and the recovery of customers by rail transport in these places. Therefore, despite the loss of a large part of the TSL market to road transport or intra-modal competition, the extensive network of PKP facilities can still, to some extent, constitute its great capabilities and the potential of Polish railways. Such actions require understanding and support from the property owner, that is, from PKP SA.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 5/2009.