Martyn Pellew, customer services director of Railpart (UK), says if
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hauliers bury their heads in the sand and don't seek to work with rail operators, they will miss out and may even go to the wall...
'Privatisation has effectively stemmed the decline of rail freight'
The road freight sector seems to have had a long-term complex about the dangers of losing its custom to the railways. This fear is ill-founded. Instead, road hauliers should see combined work with railFreight as an opportunity.
At last the privatisation of the UK rail network has brought about a sense of commercial reality. It has effectively stemmed the 30-year decline of rail freight. That decline was mostly on commodity items, in particular coal.
The recent acquisition of Railfreight Distribution by English, Welsh and Scottish towards the end of last year should further help to stimulate improvements in the effectiveness of rail as a transport option for consumer goods. A recent report commissioned by the rail regulator from consultancy National Economic Research Associates The Potential For Rail Freight predicts the opportunity exists for an increase in rail-carried freight to grow from 13.1 billion net tonne-km in 1995-96 to a maximum of 17.2bn by 2005.
This best case assumes the 44-tonne maximum road weight is not implemented and infrastructure improvements are successfully implemented, particularly by
Railtrack. Such growth will only begin to touch the surface, leaving plenty opportunity for road-based traffic. The use of road to and from new rail-linked service areas from local collection points and into Final consumption will remain critical to effective supply chains.
The NERA report sees the greatest commodity area for growth as being manufactured domestic and industrial goods. This is the sector where service quality is crucial and where rail has recently carried very little (2.5bn net tonnekm a year). There is also further opportunity of 1.55bn net tonne-km, but this is dependent upon investment to improve the loading gauge to allow piggyback 9.5ft containers and high-cube freight to be moved economically, according to NERA.
Given the weak Conservative and Labour will to do anything concrete about an integrated transport policy, other than issue consultative documents, then these caveats on the growth in rail freight must be taken as likely to mean less growth for rail.
Certainly the new privatised freight operators have the corporate willpower to make progress. They have, for example, introduced the "Enterprise" services with timed deliveries from East Anglia to Scotland using the East Coast main line. J Sainsbury has recently used rail for movements between Ely and Mossend, Glasgow. But even then, trans-shipment to road transport is usually required at either end due to the woeful inadequacy of sufficient rail sidings close to the motorway networks and conurbations of Britain.
It would be better for road transport operators to follow the likes of TDG Harris, Eddie Stobart and Potter Group, who have each embraced the new rail option to serve their customers' needs. Unless other operators work out for themselves how best to work with a combined rail and road capability, then their customers and shippers will do it for themselves.
If road operators hesitate to exploit the strengths of each mode of transport and fail to co-operate between each mode, then shippers will go direct and the ostrich-Ae road operators will rightly go to the wall.
• if you want to sound off about a road transport issue write to features editor Patric Cunnane or fax your views (up to 600 words) to Nicky Clarke on 0181 652 8912.