Transcript Opportunities & Advantages of Intermodal Transport between Europe & Asia Kiev, 28 September 2004 Hubert Linssen General Delegate Page 1 © International Road Transport Union (IRU) 2004

Opportunities & Advantages
of Intermodal Transport between
Europe & Asia
Kiev, 28 September 2004
Hubert Linssen
General Delegate
Page 1
© International Road Transport Union (IRU) 2004
Evolution of the IRU Structure
•
1948 - IRU founded in Geneva
•
1956 - IRU Liaison Committee established
•
1973 - IRU Liaison Committee to the EU established in
Brussels
•
1998 - IRU Liaison Committee to the CIS established in
Moscow
Page 2
© International Road Transport Union (IRU) 2004
Evolution of IRU Membership
Created
1948
8 Founder
States:
2004
174 Members
67 Countries
Belgium
Denmark
France
Netherlands
Norway
Sweden
UK
Switzerland
Laeremans
Page 3
© International Road Transport Union (IRU) 2004
Main Areas of IRU Activity
 Representing Road Transport Industry (Employers)
worldwide
 Leadership for the Road Transport Industry in key
issues
 Managing the TIR system administration
 Commercial Services to the Road Transport Industry
through separate companies, such as Vialtis
 Providing Information Services for Members, via
www.iru.org
Page 4
© International Road Transport Union (IRU) 2004
Sustainable Development
For the IRU, the promotion of sustainable development
should include:
 Technical progress to build more efficient vehicles and
less polluting fuels
 Improved logistics process
 Improved intermodal cooperation
Page 5
© International Road Transport Union (IRU) 2004
Intermodal transport
 Road is complementary and indispensable, with rail,
maritime or inland waterways, for transport over long
distances
 The importance of reinforcing links between Europe
and Asia
Page 6
© International Road Transport Union (IRU) 2004
Combined Transport (1)
 The IRU supports combined transport as a complete
transport management system supplementing
traditional road transport
 There are no economically viable alternatives to road
over short distances – road is always the indispensable
partner in all types or road transport.
Page 7
© International Road Transport Union (IRU) 2004
Combined Transport (2)
 The transport of dangerous goods – a good example of
combined transport using rail-road – especially over
trans-continental distances
 Specific problems subsist at terminals which prevent
more use of combined transport
Page 8
© International Road Transport Union (IRU) 2004
Intermodal transhipping (1)
 Lack of facilities for intermodal transhipping and red
tape at border crossings are prejudicial to international
trade and combined transport
 Rail is only an option if the following are avoided:
• fractioning of shipments
• delays
• damage to goods
Page 9
© International Road Transport Union (IRU) 2004
Intermodal transhipping (2)
 Multi-modal platforms must be developed with:
• Reception and information services
• Parking areas for heavy goods vehicles
• Freight office
• Transit centre
• Warehouses
• Container loading and unloading installations
Page 10
© International Road Transport Union (IRU) 2004
Combined Transport risks
 Rail-road, sea-road, river-road combined services all
incur increased costs through:
• Load fractioning
• Increased risk of damage to goods
• Lengthy delays
• Imprecise timings
• Lack of technical harmonisation (boxes)
• Lack of legal harmonisation
• Red tape at borders
Page 11
© International Road Transport Union (IRU) 2004
Priorities for governments
 Governments must :
• Encourage the establishment of international facilitation
measures
• Remove obstacles at borders
• Establish a legal regime for multimodal transport with sea links
• Flexible transit conditions
• Harmonised and flexible border crossing conditions
Page 12
© International Road Transport Union (IRU) 2004
Conclusion (1)
National Authorities, together with IRU Member
Associations present in the Euro-Asian region, must
take steps to promote road transport, as well as its
modal partners, and remove remaining obstacles to
respond to needs to develop commercial and economic
relations between Asia and Europe.
Page 13
© International Road Transport Union (IRU) 2004
Conclusion (2)
The IRU’s 3 “i” strategy:
 Innovations to develop ever more effective at
source technical measures and operating practices
 Incentives to encourage transport operators to
accelerate the introduction of the best available
technology and practices for combined transport
 Infrastructure to remove bottlenecks and missing
links on Euro-Asian transport corridors
Page 14
© International Road Transport Union (IRU) 2004