Insights - July/August 2017 - 23

liberalization of extending combined transport services in the
EU single market (freeing it from the need to obtain any specific
permit), as well as declares that first and last mile road haulage
is part of a cross-border operation. Thereafter, the directive
lists the various forms of promotional measures that Member
States are authorized to implement to compensate for the added
complexity and to promote the shift to combined transport.
Lastly, a monitoring mechanism is defined to enable the
controlling of the progress achieved.
Problems with this quarter-century-old directive are multifold: the definitions are difficult to interpret, making roadside
enforcement problematic; several aspects of a single intermodal
transport market are missing (national rules make seamless
operations cumbersome, resulting in the loss of efficiency);
compensatory measures are obsolete and do not relate to the
sector's needs; and the monitoring mechanism is inadequate.
Consequently, the European intermodal sector has been calling for a modernization and the correction of the defects of this
otherwise useful legislation.
A clear definition of the forms of intermodal transport eligible
for state preference has been asked for, alongside the recognition
that intermodal transport is generally useful to society. The latter
could be expressed through the Europe-wide authorization of
the German government's support scheme offered to aid the
construction of transhipment terminals.
Recognizing that defining the regulatory framework of
transport is a Member State competence, National Intermodal
Development Plans need to be drafted. This could bring
together modally oriented regulators to jointly set targets for

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intermodal development and to define the right (temporary)
compensatory measures needed to achieve these. An elaborate
assessment of (regulatory) disparities of the various modes of
freight transport would be necessary, which is to set the upper
limits of state compensation. Finally, through the biannual
review of these national plans the progress could be effectively
measured against the declared (modal shift) targets. The
exercise will enable the quantification of the achieved social
and environmental externality savings, which is indispensable to
explain the advantages of intermodal transport to the electorate.
The European Commission met on May 18th and confirmed
that the amendment for Directive 92/106 will be adopted by the
College of Commissioners - as a formal amendment proposal
- and submitted to the European Parliament and Council for
consideration this December.
See more details on the directive at https://ec.europa.eu/
transport/themes/urban/consultations/2017-CTD_en.
View the most recent study of the European Commission
on Combined Transport at https://ec.europa.eu/transport/sites/
transport/files/themes/strategies/studies/doc/2015-01-freightlogistics-lot2-combined-transport.pdf.
UIRR, as the industry association of intermodal transport in
Europe, promotes the needs of the sector towards regulators,
while facilitates the enhancement of its industry best practice
and offers support services to its daily operations.
Editor's Note: Akos Ersek, chief policy adviser to UIRR,
provided this article to Intermodal Insights, which is grateful for
this contribution.

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July/August 2017 | Intermodal Insights

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https://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/urban/consultations/2017-CTD_en https://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/urban/consultations/2017-CTD_en https://ec.europa.eu/transport/sites/transport/files/themes/strategies/studies/doc/2015-01-freight-logistics-lot2-combined-transport.pdf https://ec.europa.eu/transport/sites/transport/files/themes/strategies/studies/doc/2015-01-freight-logistics-lot2-combined-transport.pdf https://ec.europa.eu/transport/sites/transport/files/themes/strategies/studies/doc/2015-01-freight-logistics-lot2-combined-transport.pdf http://www.TriniumTech.com/Trucking http://www.gschq.com

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