Article
citation information:
Krzyżewska, I. Problems in the organisation of the transport process on the international
market. Scientific Journal of Silesian
University of Technology. Series Transport. 2021, 112, 113-123. ISSN: 0209-3324. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20858/sjsutst.2021.112.7.9
Iwona KRZYŻEWSKA[1]
PROBLEMS
IN THE ORGANISATION OF THE TRANSPORT PROCESS ON THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET
Summary. The transport process
consists of many stages, where many interferences and problems may occur. It is
important to identify these problems and find solutions to them, for example,
using innovative tools supporting transport process management. A properly
organised transport process allows the entire supply chain to function
properly. For a transport process to be effective, it must be appropriately
coordinated from planning, organising, implementing and controlling. In each of
these phases, different types of problems may be encountered; therefore, the persons
responsible for the various phases must monitor them closely. By reacting
quickly, they can resolve any interference, so that the whole supply chain runs
without major problems. The organisation of transport processes consists of
several phases, which are an integral part of the whole process. Properly
trained staff, knowledge of the transport market and the needs of the customer
are essential for a company to function properly. Thanks to these three
components, a company can offer services at the highest level. This work aims
to develop a scheme of the transport process on the international market and
also identify problems occurring in the organisation of transport processes.
Some solutions to existing problems are also proposed.
Keywords: transport problem, international market,
transportation rates, empty mileage
1. INTRODUCTION
Road
transport has a major role in the Transport, Shipping and Logistic (TSL) industry due
to its well-developed infrastructure, delivering thousands of tonnes of goods to production and finished products to the
contractor. Freight transport is involved in the entire production and
distribution cycle, delivering goods for production as well as finished goods
to the customer
[1-4]. Each single transport order executed is, in fact, a complex process,
consisting of many elements and stages [5, 6]. Different definitions of a
transportation process can be found in the literature. The transport process is
defined as a sequence of consecutive activities, constituting a certain whole,
as a result of which goods will be delivered to the customer in the most
efficient way. The following components can be distinguished in the transport
process: movement, administrative, legal, financial, organisational
and economic activities [7, 8]. In real conditions, the whole transport process
depends on many people for documentation transfer, realisation
of loading and unloading, driver's working time, and monitoring of the whole
transport course. At subsequent stages, there are interferences and problems on
which depends the quality and possibility of realisation
of a particular order. Therefore, it is important to identify these
interferences and propose solutions that will improve the quality of transport
order execution [8]. This work aims to develop a scheme of the transport
process and to identify problems occurring in the organisation
of transport processes on the international market. Some solutions to existing
problems are also proposed.
2. MATERIALS
AND METHOD
Observation of the organisation of the
transport process and identification of problems in the investigated company
were made. The examined transport and forwarding company is a small company
with a fleet of 20 trucks, based in Tychy, Silesia, southern Poland.
In the organisation of the transport process,
various types of interference that negatively impact the company can be
identified. A process map (scheme) was made in the investigated company. On the
other hand, the identification of the most important problems that mostly
influence the organisation of transport on the
international market was made in the examined company. To emphasise
and confirm the significance of the occurring problems in the organisation of transport on the international market, a questionnaire
survey was conducted among the owners of transport companies, forwarders and
professional drivers. An average data analysis was developed based on the
number of indications from 50 survey questionnaires.
3. RESULTS
3.1. Organisation of
transport process
In Figure 1, the transportation process from the moment of sending the
request for offer, to the moment of payment for the service, occurring in
reality in the transportation company is presented. The method is presented in
a graphical form, providing answers to which processes are interrelated.
Every day, a transport company receives many enquiries in the mailbox
about the possibility of realisation transport. To
respond to the enquiry, the forwarder checks the transport possibilities and
transportation rates.
The most critical stage is the flow of transport documents. After
unloading, the driver sends the transport documents by post or by scan to an
email. Nowadays, an increasing number of companies opt for a safer, faster way
of receiving documents electronically. This makes it much easier for carriers
and clients, as they do not have to wait to receive the original documents. By
accepting the documents electronically, the payment period is significantly
reduced and is thus, as many days as the agreed payment period.
Fig. 1. Transport process (author’s
study)
3.2. Problems identification in the transport
process
The following paragraphs describe the results of a survey of drivers,
forwarders and transport company owners on the problems they experienced in the
organisation of the transport process on the
international market.
Figure 2 shows that most of the respondents work as freight forwarders
in a transport company (70%), 20% of the answers were given by drivers, and
only 10% by the owners of the transport companies.
Figure 3 depicts that most of the respondents (45%) work in small
companies that employ up to 50 people. The smallest number of respondents (16%)
work in large companies that employ over 250 people. Only 19% of respondents
work in micro-enterprises, which employ up to 10 people, and in medium
enterprises that employ up to 250 people, it is 20% of the total number of
participants in the survey.
Figure 4 reveals that the highest number of sets of vehicles owned by
the enterprise where the respondents work, is between 11-50 trucks (43%). The
smallest value is between 51 and 100 sets of vehicles (16% of respondents).
Fig. 2. Position held in transport company
(author’s study)
Fig. 3. Transport company size (author’s study)
Fig. 4. Number of trucks in the company’s fleet (author’s
study)
From the results presented (Figure 5), one can conclude that transport
rates contribute mostly to the way a company operates, while road safety has
the least influence. Different opinions may result, among others, from
different working systems of a given company, for example, a signed contract
for a fixed relationship, where the owner of the company does not have to worry
about the payment term, because he has the same payment term in the contract
for all transport orders and about empty runs as well, as loading/unloading
takes place at the same company (at the same place).
Additional problems mentioned by respondents in the organisation
of the transport process are listed in Table 1.
Tab. 1
Additional
problems in the organisation of the transport process
|
Company size |
Problems |
|
Owners |
|
|
Micro |
·
IT systems (old,
lack) ·
lack of parking
spaces |
|
Small |
·
lack of
sufficient, safe and secure parking areas |
|
Medium |
·
lack of
sufficient, safe and secure parking areas |
|
Freight forwarders |
|
|
Micro |
·
lack of
sufficient, safe and secure parking areas |
|
Small |
·
unreasonable
retention of trucks loading/unloading places ·
lack of
sufficient, safe and secure parking areas |
|
Medium |
·
lack of
sufficient, safe and secure parking areas |
|
Large |
·
lack of
sufficient, safe and secure parking areas ·
lack of drivers |
|
Drivers |
|
|
Micro |
·
lack of parking
spacer |
|
Small |
·
lack of parking
spacer ·
unreasonable
retention of trucks loading/unloading places ·
low salary |
|
Medium |
·
lack of parking
spacer ·
theft of foods |
|
Large |
·
lack of parking
spacer |
Fig. 5. Impact of the problem on the organisation
of transport on the international market (scale 0-10) (author’s study)
Different types of interferences, which negatively affects the company,
can be identified in the organisation of the
transport process.
The following most important problems were identified during the organisation of the transport process:
Transportation rates
It often occurs that the proposed rate per 1 km loaded is too low to realise the transport order at a high level. However, there
is the risk of contacting another company with a
lower rate for the same service if the rate proposed by the carrier is too
high.
Delays due to waiting for loading/unloading
Transport orders have routes where the unloading place is many kilometres away from the next popular loading places. In
such a situation, it is necessary to increase the freight rate, including
vehicle drive to the next place of loading. However, in many cases, this
results in a rejection by the customer.
Non-payment for freight or delayed payment for
completed service
The payment term agreed upon in
the terms of service is calculated from the date of receipt of all transport
documents and invoice. The driver is scheduled to carry out orders on the road
for about 3 weeks. After this period of time, it is possible to receive the
documents from the fulfilment of orders by the driver and the specific vehicle.
Waiting for the documents to flow and for the driver to return to the base extends
the payment period by several days.
Working time of drivers
Often, the limitation in the
implementation of transport is the working time of drivers and the applicable
standards and legislation. On 15 July 2020, Regulation (EC) No. 561/2006 and (EU)
165/2014 were amended regarding, among other things, the guarantee of the
return of the driver by the company, every maximum of four weeks to the
driver's place of residence or the company’s registered office. The
driver should take a regular weekly rest of 45 hours after a maximum of 6 daily
driving periods. This period may be shortened, no more than twice in two weeks
in a row to 24 hours, provided the next rest is regular and compensation is
received for the two previous shortened rests. A regular rest must be taken at
the driver's place of residence or business. A driver may not take a regular
rest of 45 hours in a cockpit. The employer must provide the employee with an
overnight stay outside the cabin. In addition, the new regulation allows extending
the driving time by a maximum of 2 hours when returning to the depot, but the
driver must document the reason for the extended driving time on the tachograph
printout. After an extension of driving time, the driver must take at least
nine hours of daily rest and compensation for the extended driving time [9, 10].
3.3. Problem solutions in the organisation
of the transport process
To be able to improve the organisation of the
transport process in the international carriage of goods, the company should,
among other things:
1) Implement a
vehicle monitoring system,
2) Optimise transport routes,
3) Verify
potential customers,
4) Vindicate
clients who are in delay with payments,
5) Negotiate
transport rates to waiting time for loading and unloading.
1) Monitoring system of vehicles
In the logistics market, many companies offer vehicle monitoring system.
The main function of this system is its ability to monitor a vehicle around the
clock in real-time. However, most systems offered by various companies have
additional services which, for example, prevent the stealing of goods, by
the driver requesting help by pressing a button and sending information about
an accident. Many other companies offer similar systems. It is worth
considering and consulting other specialists (forwarders, logisticians,
planners) who have daily contact with the presented systems to choose the most
suitable one for a company.
2) Optimisation of the transport route
Empty mileage is a problem for most transport companies. It is rare for
unloading and loading to take place at or near the same warehouse. However,
there are tools to minimise empty mileage. Such tools
are the freight exchanges. The main freight exchanges in the TSL sector are :
-
TimoCom,
-
Trans.eu,
-
Teleroute.
Table 2 below compares freight exchange.
Tab. 2
Freight Exchange [12-14]
|
|
TimoCom |
Trans.eu |
Teleroute |
|
Founding year |
1997 |
2004 |
1987 |
|
Number of daily offers on the Exchange |
About 550000 |
About 150000 |
About 20000 |
|
Offered directions |
Germany, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Netherlands,
Belgium, Spain, France, Portugal, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Denmark,
Norway, Lithuania |
Mainly loads within the country or departures from the country.
However, there are also offers for Germany, Italy, Belgium, Holland,
Spain |
Mainly France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg |
|
Free trial period |
1 month |
1 month |
free software demo |
|
Cost of Rusing |
The cost depends on the needs of the company, the number of forwarders
using the exchange |
100 euro |
The cost depends on the needs of the company, the number of forwarders
using the exchange |
|
Additional
services |
·
Debt collection, ·
Tenders, ·
Warehouse search
engine, ·
Possibility to
connect GPS to Timocom and provide vehicle tracking
to customers, ·
Travel cost
calculator, ·
Transport
barometer |
·
Debt collection, ·
The possibility
of connecting GPS to Trans.eu and making the vehicle tracking available to
customers, ·
Quick Pay -
quick payment for transport, commission of 1.99% from the freight |
·
Debt collection, ·
Travel cost
calculator, ·
Sending SMS with
loading/unloading addresses to drivers |
|
Termination conditions |
3 months |
1 month |
3 months |
Comparing these 3 freight exchanges with each other exposed some
discrepancies. The most important difference is the destinations offered in the
freight exchange. Of the three freight exchanges, TimoCom
seems to be the best solution as it offers the most freight per day. However,
buying at least two freight exchanges for a better exploration of choices
should be considered. With the free trial, companies can test the practical
differences between TimoCom and Trans.eu. The manner
of contact with potential customers is also a difference between these
exchanges. To enquire about offers in TimoCom's and Teleroute's exchange, customers have to send an email or
make a phone call. TimoCom has a business messenger,
which, however, is usually not used by companies, whereas Trans.eu has a
business messenger as the main form of contact and this makes it much easier to
discuss offers. To optimise the transport route, the
company may additionally use maps dedicated to trucks, which show, among
others:
-
height, tonnage,
width restrictions,
-
driving
prohibitions,
-
real-time roadway
incidents,
-
transport costs.
Such a map can be, for example, HOGS maps or
the Scania Fleet Management System
[11, 15]. With the ability to calculate transport costs, the company can save
up several hundred euros per route, and avoid additional kilometres
that a vehicle can travel without proper directions to the place of
loading/unloading, for example, when it is limited by tonnage bans.
3) Verification
of potential customers
To minimise the
problem of insolvent contractors, companies should verify potential customers.
It is very important to check how long the company has been operating in the
transport market. There are quite a few methods to verify a potential customer,
among others, through:
·
Central Register
and Information on Economic Activity (CEIDG) - a
database of sole proprietor companies. Here, one can check tax number, edit the
entry, whether the company was suspended or is active,
·
KRS - online
database - a register where the civil law relationships between partners can be
checked,
·
National Debtors
Register - a paid register where the current debts and the history of
receivables of a given company can be assessed,
·
European
Commission VIES - tax numbers of contractors from the entire European Union can
be confirmed on this platform.
The freight and vehicle exchanges, TimoCom and Trans.eu, both have the option for customers to
leave their reviews. This is a tool to verify customers.
4) Debt collection
Quite a few companies on the market offer debt collection services. It
is worth making a contract with one of them. These companies first try to
resolve the matter by sending a letter about an unpaid invoice. However, when
the counterparty does not respond to this letter, then they take the matter to
court. Debt collection companies have legal advisers in their teams who prepare
the official letter to the court and handle the case further.
5) Negotiate transport rates in terms of
waiting time for loading and unloading.
Most contractors in the contract of a carriage include a stop on
loading/unloading up to 24 hours for free. When negotiating rates, it is worth
negotiating the terms of parking a car as well. In the terms of order or
contract, one may find the following clause: 100 euros payable for a stopover 5
h to 10 h, over 10 h to 24 h - payable 200 euros.
4. CONCLUSION
The analysis made it possible to characterise
the interferences occurring in the company. The distortions that were presented
affect many transportation companies with varying probability and scale of
potential impact. The interferences observed include transportation rates,
empty mileage, payment terms for contractors and financial terms. To eliminate
these distortions, it was suggested to introduce innovative IT tools such as
the GPS telematics system that allows detecting the location of a truck per
time, helps the forwarder to manage the fleet and the drivers, and special maps
that assist the company in reducing the costs of tolls, save the drivers time
in reaching their destination by being able to check occurring restrictions on
the roads. Several methods were further proposed for the verification of a
potential contractor, as well as the agreement with a debt collection company
in terms of non-payment for the transport service by a customer. All
abovementioned work to reduce additional costs incurred by the company,
increase work efficiency, as well as reduce the occurrence of risks in the
future.
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Received 11.03.2021; accepted in revised form 20.06.2021
Scientific
Journal of Silesian University of Technology. Series Transport is licensed
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