Poland Promotes Road Haulage
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DECENT changes in official transport policy in Poland I% indicate a gradual development of road haulage at the expense of the railways. The general expansion of the economy and the rising standard of living have resulted in a marked growth in the volume of goods sent by rail.
In the past two or three years this increased traffic has caused the Polish transport administration to review the adequacy of rail facilities, particularly with regard to parcels work. A special State Corporation, the National Forwarding Corporation (ENE). has been established primarily to re-organize the movement of parcels and "smalls" and to introduce an efficient road collection-and-delivery system based on selected road/rail depots throughout the country.
The first step has been the rationalization of the whole system by reducing the number of depots handling the traffic from 2,230 to 295. A zonal system of highly mechanized depots has now been established on which the collection and delivery of smalls is based.
One of the factors which tended to discourage the transhipment of goods from rail to road for short distances was the difference in rates, but from the start of this year rates have been adjusted by the Government to facilitate the dispatch of much larger consignments for short distances by road. Other evidence of the new official support for road transport is provided by the closure of the railway's own trucking services.
Development of haulage will not be confined to parcels traffic. ENE is in the process of planning the transfer from rail to road of other classes of consignments for distances of up to 30, 50 and 80 km. A number of rail sidings are also to be handed over to the State haulage enterprise.