2nd European Inland Terminals Conference & Exhibition in Antwerp - Conference summary
In the world of transport and logistics the particular phenomenon of inland terminals is gaining quickly importance due to increasing congestion on the European road network and in sea ports, unpredictable fluctuations of fuel rates and establishing of features like economics of scale and carbon footprint.
The second European Conference & Exhibition on Inland Terminals discussed specific topics in relation to inland terminals like supply chain developments, developments outside Europe, inland terminals and the intermodal network in Europe and innovative inland logistics.
Supply Chain Developments
In the contemporary sector of transport and logistics the concept “supply chain” is rapidly evolving under the influence of trends like globalization, congestion, expanding markets and sustainability. Those evolvements can be bundled in three main supply chain developments which have a considerable effect on the position of inland terminals in the inland hub system.
The first notable supply chain development is globalization. The growth of principally the Chinese and Indian economy causes a trade imbalance and an increasing demand for transport, mainly maritime container flows. As a result delivery reliability and cost efficiency is affected by congestion and capacity constraints of the existing transport and logistic networks.
The second trend is regionalization of European distribution networks with co-modality due to factors like increasing congestion which reduce delivery reliability, rising land transport costs and expanding markets in Eastern Europe which create great opportunities for inland ports along the Danube River and the coast of the Black Sea.
Thirdly environmental related issues like carbon footprint and internalization of external costs are gaining importance in supply chain management. This tendency toward sustainability increases the demand for multimodal solutions.
Those three main supply chain developments create numerous challenges and opportunities for inland terminals. The main objective is to improve the usage of time and logistic infrastructure and to develop value added services. Key words for solutions are innovation and cooperation.
Developments outside Europe
International examples like the inland transport network in the Pearl River Delta in China, the development of inland water transport in India and the inland waterway and terminal system of the USA can help elevate the efficiency of the European inland transport network.
In the past two decades, China has developed a booming economy as a result of investments in infrastructure and changes in the legislation in favour of export. The Pearl River Delta in the Guangdong province has a large potential due to a broad and modern inland transport network with inland ports, highways, railways and airports close to the four main deep sea ports in the Hong Kong region. The PDR inland terminals utilize information technology to increase efficiency and to improve control and information systems.
The inland water transport sector in India at the moment is sub-optimally developed, although international benchmarks like China, Europe and the USA are used to formulate an investment and strategy to elevate efficiency of inland water transport.
The inland water transport sector in the USA is characterized by a few major constraints. The first problem is the heavy concentration of almost all navigable waterways in the East. Further constraints are lack of inland water connections with commercial areas, limited modal and intermodal access, shortage of river intermodal facilities, environmental limitations and limited government support. Nevertheless the situation is slowly improving due to environmental issues, increasing congestion and growing public awareness.
The different governments in Europe, China, India and the USA direct the transport and logistics sector towards sustainability, co-modality ... So there are more similarities than differences between the various regions all over the world.
Inland Terminals in Europe
Inland terminals play a significant role for local, regional and national economies and society. Furthermore they are essential for the development of transport, logistic services and other industries. Inland terminals are gaining importance as consolidation hubs for continental freight.
The supply of multimodal inland terminals is crucial in providing a real choice of logistic channels adapted to different segments of the transport and logistic market. The adjustment of existing infrastructure to and the development of multimodal inland terminals must be a partnership between state, region, developers and operators to deal with issues like congestion, globalization, margin erosion, sustainability and demand for agility and information to reduce lead time. The benefits of those large investments for society and economy are large.
Freight villages are mega inland terminals and have been developed to create sustainability of multimodal transport or co-modality by optimizing inland transport since the concentration of transport and logistic services in larger multimodal terminals elevates efficiency than various smaller infrastructures. The increasing demand for transport causes needs like increasing load capacity, more efficient transport systems, global logistic solutions, development of a hierarchic network of multimodal hubs and synergic actions between inland terminals and ports combined with secured accessibility and reliability.
Extended gateways Flanders are a total concept characterised by an integrated vision on logistics, a prime location concerning low total logistic costs and accessibility and clustering of companies with comparable logistic typology where logistic and production related know-how are combined in value added logistic services.
The key thought concerning developing inland terminals in Europe is the construction of a multimodal hinterland network consisting of inland interchanges, inland hubs and extended gateways as a result of clustering, consolidation and cooperation between all stakeholders of the transport and logistic sector to solve problems like congestion, flow of empty containers and 08.00 o’clock syndrome.
The Intermodal Network in Europe
Inland ports are becoming intermodal hubs in the multimodal logistic hinterland system because they increase mobility, frequency and reliability and guarantee sustainability. However many inland ports are faced with a lack of expansion opportunities created by scare space through which optimization of usage of transport and logistic capacity are becoming essential.
The fast developing Chinese economy has caused a trade growth between Europe and Asia, which creates new opportunities for the development of new multimodal Euro-Asian transport links. Various long term projects like EATL, TAR and TRACERA have been developed to an efficient and multimodal Eurasian corridor.
The expanding market in Eastern Europe creates several opportunities for inland ports along the Danube River like Galati and the coast of the Black Sea like Constanta. Two main projects are elaborated to solve bottlenecks along the Danube River and enhance the accessibility to the multimodal hinterland network.
The intermodal offer has to adapt accordingly to developments of the multimodal inland terminal network like a renewed European port system hierarchy, globalization and evolutions in supply chains and logistic models. Frequent re-thinking of the role of inland ports, of the flow of goods into the hinterland logistic system and of cooperation between main gateways and inland terminals is needed to secure mobility, frequency, reliability and sustainability.
Innovative Inland Logistics
Freight intermodalism is gaining importance in the transport and logistic sector due to congestion. The competitive position of intermodal freight can be enhanced by innovations in transport and logistic infrastructure and services. Projects to develop a dense, reliable, modern and multimodal inland transport network like the Trade Port North in Venlo, the liberalisation of the rail market and the Seine-North Europe Canal are crucial to consolidate intermodal freight. Furthermore the usage of new technology like RFID and the creation of new logistic processes like inland navigation can increase the reliability, frequency and sustainability of intermodal transport and logistic services. However innovations cause budget restrictions on the short term, they can lead to economic benefits on the middle-long and long term.
In conclusion, sea ports and inland hubs are growing fast due to the increasing demand for transport and logistic services and the growing trade imbalance as a result of the booming Chinese economy, but they face capacity constraints, congestion and environmental issues which affect reliability and logistic costs. Better usage of existing transport and logistic capacity a result of clustering, consolidation, regionalisation of multimodal inland transport network and cooperation between all stakeholders of the transport and logistic sector is needed to solve those problems. Furthermore innovations and enlargements of the intermodal transport system are the key to enhance the competitiveness co-modality. Multimodal inland terminals fulfil an important role in the future of the transport and logistic sector because they increase mobility, frequency and reliability.