Intermodal pricing and costing over time : towards cost-conscious service providers in Europe. To counteract the growing imbalance between modes of transport, the European Commission sets a number of ambitious targets to ensure fuller integration of road transport with the alternative modes. Better insight in the cost structure of intermodal transport chains is one way to find necessary and effective policy actions for realising modal shift. This paper analyses the actual pricing and cost implications of the deployment of short sea shipping as intermodal transport mode into intra-European container transport. It is based on the analysis and interim results of the project ‘Regional Action for Logistical Integration of Shipping across Europe’ (REALISE). We conclude that parties in the intermodal transport chain have become more cost-conscious and aware of the need for cost reduction and service (time) improvement. We believe that harmonised legislation with the purpose to internalise external costs is required to give intermodal transport a valid change. (Author/publisher)
Abstract