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1st Interactive Session: Klaas Westerkamp
One year after EU Enlargement: 1st
Interactive Session
SHIPPER SATISFACTION WITH ROAD HAULAGE SERVICES IN CEE COUNTRIES Background Since 1989 the competition between hauliers from Western Europe and Central and Eastern Europe has been a subject that has drawn much attention. In Western Europe on the one hand it was feared that hauliers from Central and Eastern Europe would gain sizeable market shares, mainly because of relatively low driver costs. On the other hand many Western European hauliers were convinced that the overall quality of services of hauliers from Central and Eastern European countries was no threat at all, and the opening of the WE/CEE market presented many opportunities. In Central and Eastern European countries it was feared that Western European companies would take over a large part of the market, mainly because of their financial strength and knowledge of modern transport and logistics services. Since then it has become clear that the competition cannot be measured on the basis of market shares of different nationalities. Hauliers from Western Europe have increasingly focused on setting up branches in Central and Eastern European countries. In the first stage these branches were used to carry out international transport between Western and Central and Eastern Europe, using a modern fleet and drivers from Central and Eastern Europe. In the second stage these originally Western Europe based hauliers discovered the attractive domestic markets in Central and Eastern Europe, and then especially the market for distribution services and logistics. Given these developments it is interesting to study how the transport sector in Central and Eastern Europe has developed, and how these companies dealt with the increasing demand regarding the overall quality of their services. And this goes for international transport as well as domestic transport and value added logistics. The study On behalf of the IRU NEA Transport research and training has carried out a study about shipper satisfaction with road haulage services in CEE countries. Main objectives of the study are: - Which quality aspects are most important for shippers in Central and Eastern European countries? - To what type of hauliers has transport and logistics service been contracted out by these shippers? - Are there differences in overall quality of services between hauliers from Western Europe, hauliers from Western Europe with branches in Central and Eastern Europe, and hauliers originating from Central and Eastern Europe? - In which areas should hauliers active in Central and Eastern Europe invest in order to improve their performance? The study was carried out using a questionnaire that has been sent to more than 300 shippers, most of them originating from Western Europe, The United States or Asia. The idea behind this is that multinationals from Western Europe, the United States and Asia are used to a relatively high quality level of transport and logistics services, and are therefore probably a good reference point to measure the overall quality of road haulage services offered today in Central and Eastern Europe, and probably a good source to find indications of which areas in transport and logistics are worthwhile investing in by the sector. Results The results of this (still ongoing) study will be presented during the IRU conference in Tallin in May 2005.
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