In international road haulage the percentage of empty vehicle kilometres has been estimated between 30 and 40 percent. Moreover, international road haulage will show a further increase in the near future. Therefore, serious efforts in the field of transport efficiency of both transport and industry are necessary. A great deal of the inefficiencies is caused by institutional restrictions as well as the imbalance in good flows between countries. However, a significant part of the empty truck kilometres is caused by imperfections of the transportsector itself, for instance limited use of transport and traffic information systems or the heterogeneity in the transport services offered. Especially the last mentioned aspect is elaborated in this paper: the relationship between market shares of several EC trans porters in specified transport services and the imbalance in good flows. (A)
Abstract