Rolling road and container transport services should be better adapted to the needs of the transport industry and made more flexible so at least a part of the increasing volume of freight transport can be shifted from road to rail. “An associated, long-held requirement of the industry is to raise the attractiveness of multimodal freight terminals,” stresses the Central Association Forwarding & Logistics (ZV) in the run-up to the transit summit in Berlin
Only if the goods can be shifted between different modes of Transport without much loss of time and money, this kind of transport will also work sustainably, according to the association’s letter. Chairman Alexander Friesz: “Firstly, we need offers that we can use as an alternative to the road. Driving bans do not solve problems, but only create more traffic jams and environmental pollution. “
It is clear that people and the environment should be burdened as little as possible, at the same time, the security of supply of goods is essential for the people of Austria. This requires common solutions of all parties involved and no solo efforts by individual federal states.
In this context, the ZV considers it imperative that Austria, and above all the Tyrolean state government, Germany and Italy develop a joint, constructive plan to solve transit problems, involving the business community and its stakeholders. “Short-term and punctual measures such as driving bans and block handling bring no real solutions, but only trouble and economic damage,” says Alexander Friesz.
The free movement of goods as a fundamental freedom of the EU and central factor of the business location Austria must be secured, requires the industry association. A greater shift of goods transport towards rail is generally welcomed by the freight forwarding industry. But rail has to be made more attractive.
Although the Rolling Highway has potential to relieve the road, it can only do so if the offer of the “RoLa” is improved and financial incentives are set. In order to achieve a sustainable relief of the roads, the policy should necessarily involve the affected sectors of the economy. “Representatives of the state of Tyrol, the Ministry of Transport, the logistics and transport industry and the ÖBB have to work out sustainable concepts quickly,” says Oliver Wagner, Managing Director of ZV Spedition & Logistik.
