The project studied the effects of enabling use of longer road vehicle combinations and/or longer trains in an intermodal freight corridor that extends from central Sweden to the Ruhr area in Germany. For the time being the transports are designed based on the smallest vehicle dimensions: 18.75 m for trucks in Germany and 650 m for trains in Sweden. The question is whether/or how the transport system can be enhanced by using larger vehicles for road transports, rail transports or both. The results show as expected that rail tonne kilometres are reduced when longer trucks are allowed in the corridor and vice versa. Ferry transports increase when it is possible to use long trucks in the corridor, the total sea transports are however affected very marginally. The competition between rail and sea becomes clear when the trains are extended to 750 m (and more). In all scenarios, the exploitation of economies of scale for trucks and/or trains leads to reduced logistics costs. The benefits resulting from reduced CO2 emissions are estimated to be small compared to the benefits due to reduced logistics costs. (Author/publisher) This report may be accessed by Internet users at http://www.vti.se/en/publications/effects-of-longer-trucks-and-freight-…
Abstract