Comparative Model of Unit Costs of Road and Rail Freight Transport for Selected European Countries Bína L.1, Bínová H.2, Březina E.3, Kumpošt P.4, Padělek T.5 1
Ladislav Bína Faculty of Transportation Sciences, Czech Technical University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic 2
Helena Bínová Faculty of Transportation Sciences, Czech Technical University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic * Corresponding author:
[email protected] 3
Edvard Březina Faculty of Transportation Sciences, Czech Technical University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic 4
Petr Kumpošt Faculty of Transportation Sciences, Czech Technical University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic 5
Tomáš Padělek Faculty of Transportation Sciences, Czech Technical University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic The Abstract The long-term trend in freight transport shows a predominant use of road transport even on long-haul routes. Within a study created at Czech Technical University in Prague Faculty of Transporting Sciences was developed a comparative model of the costs of road and rail freight transport which lets you search parameters and conditions under which the competitiveness of rail transport increases. The paper describes the model including input parameters, output values and model workflow. Key words: freight transport; road transport; rail transport; comparative model 1.
Introduction
The largest volumes of inland freight are carried by road and by rail. Most of commodities can be transported by road even by rail and these transport systems may compete with each other. The decisive factor for choice of carrier is usually the shipping costs or the transport time. Therefore was created a comparative study of unit costs between road and rail transport for countries of the European Union and Switzerland focusing on prices of a transport route, electricity and diesel fuel, depreciation of vehicles, salaries and handling costs. The result is comparing of shipping costs for carload shipments by road and by rail and the conversion to a comparable unit – ton (t) and ton-kilometer (tkm), and also a possibility to determine the marginal cost distance for cooperation of road and rail transport. Within a study created at Czech Technical University in Prague Faculty of Transportation Sciences (CTU FTS) was developed a comparative model of the costs of road and rail freight transport for selected European countries. 2.
Goals and Procedure
The model is used to compare of shipping costs by road and by rail, and to determine the marginal cost distance for cooperation of road and rail transport (with taking consideration of toll road route parts). The model is based on analysis of systems used in the Czech Republic and in Europe. Additional costs were included in the rail transport costs for comparison to road transport: Costs of road transport from a source point to a connection point of rail network (50 km), and handling costs of reloading road → rail; Costs of road transport from a connection point of rail network to a target point (50 km), and handling costs of reloading rail → road. Data for the analysis and comparison were obtained only from publicly available sources. It was assumed that data from particular carriers may be protected by trade secret, and gain only partial data could skew the overall results.
3.
Explored Countries
In an analytic part of the study, all countries of the European Union and Switzerland were divided into groups according to the importance of road and rail freight transport, and the possibility of obtaining necessary analytic data. The assessed countries were divided into 5 groups (see also the map in Fig. 1): 1) The countries having no toll road network or chargeable rail network, and having a minimal share of freight transport on a European scale; 2) The countries having a minimal share of freight transport on a European scale according to their geographical position; 3) The countries having a significant range of transport network and volume of freight transport where the data for the analysis are difficult available; 4) European countries having a significant range of transport network and volume of freight transport; 5) Central European countries having a significant range of transport network and volume of freight transport. In the model, the countries having a significant range of transport network and volume of freight transport of groups 4 and 5 were included.
Fig. 1: Explored countries and their dividing into groups
© CTU FTS, Wikipedia (background map)
Pattern
Description The countries having no toll road network or chargeable rail network, and having a minimal share of freight transport on a European scale Cyprus, Malta The countries having a minimal share of freight transport on a European scale according to their geographical position Estonia, Finland, Great Britain, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg The countries having a significant range of transport network and volume of freight transport where the data for the analysis are difficult available Bulgaria, Denmark, Greece, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden European countries having a significant range of transport network and volume of freight transport Belgium, Croatia, France, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia Central European countries having a significant range of transport network and volume of freight transport Austria, Czech, Germany, Slovakia, Switzerland
Tab. 1: Legend to the figure 1 4.
Input Data
4.1. Road Freight Transport Costs Fixed, independent of the type and size of the cargo, costs of road transport include vehicle depreciation, vehicle maintenance, road tax and mandatory insurance, driver’s salary, handling fees (loading and unloading), and overhead costs of the carrier (management, central services, dispatching, etc.). Variable, dependent on the type and size of the cargo and on transport distance, costs of road transport include fuel (diesel fuel), consumption of tires, fees for the use of road (toll), and driver’s mandatory safety breaks. Euro II N1
N2
Euro III N3
N1
N2
Euro IV N3
N1
N2
Euro V N3
N1
N2
N3
A
Austria
0,193 0,270 0,405 0,193 0,270 0,405 0,170 0,238 0,357 0,170 0,238 0,357
B
Belgium
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
BG
Bulgaria
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
CZ
Czech
D
Germany
-
DK
Denmark
-
E
Spain
EST
Estonia
F
France
FIN
Finland
GR
Greece
H
Hungary
HR
Croatia
CH
Switzerland
I
Italy
LT
Lithuania
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
LV
Latvia
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
NL
Netherlands
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
P
Portugal
0,090 0,116 0,128 0,090 0,116 0,128 0,090 0,116 0,128 0,090 0,116 0,128
PL
Poland
0,024 0,096 0,127 0,024 0,084 0,110 0,024 0,067 0,089 0,024 0,048 0,065
RO
Romania
S
Sweden
SK
Slovakia
SLO
Slovenia
0,095 0,163 0,235 0,074 0,127 0,184 0,074 0,127 0,184 0,074 0,127 0,184 0,274 0,288 -
-
-
0,190 0,204 -
-
-
0,169 0,183 -
-
-
0,141 0,155 -
-
0,079 0,125 0,147 0,079 0,125 0,147 0,079 0,125 0,147 0,079 0,125 0,147 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
0,303 0,453 0,618 0,303 0,453 0,618 0,303 0,453 0,618 0,303 0,453 0,618 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
0,082 0,082 0,114 0,082 0,082 0,114 0,082 0,082 0,114 0,082 0,082 0,114 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
0,121 0,189 0,189 0,121 0,189 0,189 0,121 0,189 0,189 0,121 0,189 0,189 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
0,098 0,148 0,175 0,098 0,148 0,175 0,098 0,148 0,175 0,098 0,148 0,175
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
0,112 0,242 0,251 0,103 0,232 0,239 0,100 0,227 0,235 0,100 0,227 0,235 -
0,191 0,276
Tab. 2: Motorway toll (€ / vehicle kilometer)
-
0,191 0,276
-
0,191 0,276
-
0,191 0,276 © CTU FTS
4.2. Rail Freight Transport Costs The cost structure of rail transport is significantly more complex in comparison to road transport. The costs of rail transport were partially simplified for the purposes of the model. Fixed, independent, costs of rail transport include vehicle depreciation, vehicle maintenance, salaries of a train’s crew, handling fees (loading and unloading), and overhead costs of the carrier (management, other rail employees’ salaries, forming of trains, central services, etc.).
×
20
BG
Bulgaria
FC–
65
CZ
Czech
MC+
60
×
D
Germany
FC–
60
×
DK
Denmark
MC+
20
×
EST
Estonia
FC
100
F
France
MC+
FIN
Finland
MC+
H
Hungary
FC
CH
Switzerland
MC+
I
Italy
FC–
16
LT
Lithuania
FC
100
LV
Latvia
FC
100
NL
Netherlands
MC
12
×
×
P
Portugal
MC
20
×
×
PL
Poland
FC
91,4
×
RO
Romania
FC
52
×
S
Sweden
MC+
5
×
SK
Slovakia
FC
25 – 50
SLO
Slovenia
FC
13
×
×
×
×
UK
Great Britain
MC+
50 – 100
×
×
×
×
5.
×
×
× × × ×
×
×
×
×
63
×
×
×
12 – 16
×
×
×
80
×
×
×
30
×
×
×
×
×
×
Tab. 3: Rail transport route charging summary
Ecological burden
27
FC–
Removing of traffic accidents
MC+
Belgium
Congestion creating Bottlemnecks
Maintenance
Austria
B
Traffic management
Percentage covering of the total costs
A
Modernization
Charging principle
Variable, dependent, costs of rail transport include traction energy (electricity) and fees for the use of rail transport route (access fees, fees for train’s mileage).
×
× ×
×
×
×
×
× ×
×
× © CTU FTS
The Model
The comparative model allows wide setup of parameters to create an appropriate comparison of transport modes separately or in mutual combination. For each transport scenario it is possible to set up the partial length of the transport route in particular countries through which the route leads. The lengths of road and rail transport routes are usually different. For the road transport scenario it is possible to set up the lengths of toll and toll-free road parts for each country on the route. The user has the opportunity to optimize his transport by a choice of the transport route according to length, shipping price or across other countries. For a specific assignment the tipping point for advantageousness of road, rail or combined transport can be determined.
5.1. Description of the Model The comparative model calculates and compares the total shipping costs and the transport time for three transport scenarios: a) Road transport, b) Rail transport, c) Combined transport (Main part of the route is realized by rail and the marginal parts of the route are realized by road.). The model contains a database of unit transport costs which influence the end shipping price, for the most of the European countries (see Chapter 3). The unit transport costs were found out by the analysis of the publicly available sources. Unavailable data were estimated from the known data for other countries by using a ratio of gross domestic product (GDP) and purchasing power parity (PPP). If a user has more accurate data (or other data which he needs to use), there is a possibility for manual entering of the user data and the calculation will use the user data. A comparison of the unit shipping costs (€ per ton-kilometer) in particular European countries shows a graph (see Fig. 2). The unit shipping costs cannot be determined in general, therefore these are calculated for a model case of domestic transport of a cargo of total weight of 100 t over a distance of 500 km, and for four variants of transport: - Variant 1a – The cargo is transported by road in the entire route on toll roads; - Variant 1b – The cargo is transported by road in the main part of the route on toll roads (375 km), and in the marginal parts of the route on toll-free roads (125 km); - Variant 2 – The cargo is transported by rail in the entire route; - Variant 3 – The cargo is transported by combined transport – by rail in the main part of the route (500 km), and by road on toll-free roads in the marginal parts of the route (100 km).
Var 3
0,091
0,104 0,109
0,088 0,097
0,081 0,071 0,063
Var 2
0,066 0,059
CH
0,059 0,057
HR
0,089
0,099 H
0,076 0,071
0,079 0,084 0,084
0,079
0,064 0,058 0,067
0,060
0,067
0,075
B
0,075
A
0,070
0,065 0,060
0,073 0,073
0,080
0,084
0,090
0,085 0,080 0,074
0,100
0,094
0,110
0,058 0,058
0,120
0,106 0,114
0,110 0,117
0,122 0,127
0,130
0,073
Shipping Price (€ / tkm)
0,140
0,104 0,111
0,150
0,074 0,073
0,148 0,149
0,160
0,157 0,158
0,170
0,050 CZ
D
F Var 1a
Var 1b
I
NL
PL
SK
SLO
Fig. 2: Comparison of the unit shipping costs for the specific cargo (€ / ton-kilometer) 5.2. Parameters of the Model The model works with the database of partial unit costs of road and rail freight transport, and with many other influencing parameters. The partial unit costs were found out by the analysis of the publicly available sources, or if the data could not be retrieved, these were estimated from the known data for other countries of the same
group (see Chapter 3) by using the ratio of GDP and PPP. Most of the model parameters have a user-changeable value. The partial costs of road transport include: a) Vehicle depreciation (€/km) – the proportional part of the intended vehicle purchase price (70,000 €) for the intended service life of 1,000,000 km, and the annual mileage of 120,000 km; b) Vehicle maintenance (€/km) – the proportional part of the estimated maintenance costs for the intended service life and the mileage; c) Consumption of tires (€/km) – the proportional part of the purchase price of tires for the intended service life of the vehicle, the intended service life of the set of tires (12 pieces) of 10,000 km, and the purchase price of one tire of 500 €; d) Mandatory insurance (€/km) – the proportional part of the vehicle operator’s responsibility insurance for the intended annual mileage; e) Road tax (€/km) – the proportional part of the annual road tax charge for the intended vehicle; f) Driver’s salary (€/km) – the proportional part of the intended monthly driver’s salary (1,000 €) for the intended monthly mileage; g) Fuel (€/km) – the proportional part of the fuel price (diesel fuel) for the intended consumption of fuel of 33 l per 100 km; h) Charge for the transport route (€/km) – the proportional part of the average toll fees (mean of rates for emission classes Euro IV and Euro V) for the intended mileage; i) Overhead cost of the carrier (€/km) – the proportional part of the carrier’s total costs to cover other (difficultly quantifiable) costs. The partial costs of rail transport include: a) Vehicles depreciation (€/km) – the proportional part of the intended purchase price of the freight train (locomotive and wagons) found out by an expert estimation; b) Vehicles maintenance (€/km) – the proportional part of the estimated maintenance costs found out by an expert estimation; c) Driver’s salary (€/h) – the proportional part of the intended monthly driver’s salary for the intended monthly working time of 172 hours; d) Traction energy (€/kWh) – the average price for the electricity (the diesel traction is not considered), e) Charge for the transport route (€/km) – the proportional part of the average fees for the use of rail transport route (determined for a train of total weight of 2,500 t and the track distance of 1,000 km) f) Overhead cost of the carrier (%) – the proportional part of the carrier’s total costs to cover other (difficultly quantifiable) costs. The other parameters necessary for the calculation include: a) Total weight of the cargo (t) – the total weight of the cargo including shipping containers; b) Loading weight of the truck (t) – loading capacity of the intended truck (default value - 30 t); The necessary number of trucks for the transport of the whole cargo is determined according to this value. c) The type of the rail freight wagon – the type of the rail wagon including the weight of the empty wagon and the loading capacity (The most frequent types of rail freight wagons are preset, and the user can define his own type.); The total weight of the train is determined according to this value; d) Average time for one handling (h) – the average time for one loading, reloading or unloading of the whole cargo (default value – 3 h); e) Average price for one handling (€) – the average fee for one loading, reloading or unloading of the whole cargo (default value – 500 €); f) The average time for dispatching of the first train (h) – the average time since the receipt of the shipment to the departure of the first train (fixed value – 12 h); g) The average speed of the truck (km/h) – the average cruising speed of the loaded truck (default value – 65 km/h); h) The average speed of the train (km/day) – the average cruising speed of the loaded train (default value – 200 km/day); i) The weight of the locomotive (t) – the average weight of the electric locomotive designed for hauling of freight trains (fixed value – 80 t); This value is necessary for determination of the total weight of the train; j) The average consumption of the traction (kW/brtkm) – the average consumption of the traction energy (fixed value 20 kWh / 1,000 brutto ton-kilometer).
5.3. The Work with the Model The output of the model is the determination of the total shipping costs, the total transport time, and the total price for 1 ton-kilometer of transported cargo, for all of three compared transport scenarios. The model also calculates the partial shipping costs and the partial transport times in the countries on the route. A presentation of the model’s user interface is in the figure 3. The model facilitates the determination of the most advantageous transport scenario for a specific cargo and a route. By using the model it is possible to optimize the intended transport route with respect to the shipping costs (for example by choice of an alternative transport route across the countries with lower fees for the use of transport route), or the total transport time. For a specific type of cargo it can be determined a marginal transport distance after which the use of the road freight transport is not more economically advantageous.
Fig. 3: User interface of the model 6.
The Sample Calculation
Let’s have a cargo of a total weight of 510 t which will be transported from Prague (CZ) to Hamburg (D). The transport route for the scenario 1 (road transport) is 144 km on the territory of Czech Republic and 561 km on the territory of Germany, and the whole route except the marginal parts of the route (each is 30 km) leads on toll roads. The transport route for the scenario 2 (rail transport) is 152 km on the territory of Czech Republic and 537 km on the territory of Germany. The transport route for the scenario 3 (combined transport) is the same as for the scenario 2 in the rail part of the route, and it is 30 km on the toll-free roads in the marginal road parts of the route. The road freight vehicles will be the trucks of the loading capacity of 30 t. The rail freight wagons will be the container carriers of the type ‘Sgnss’ of the loading capacity of 66 t. (This type of the rail wagon had not been in the menu, and it was entered by the user.) One handling with the cargo takes 3 h, and it costs 500 €. The calculation shows that the shipping costs will be 17,769 € (34.841 €/t) and the transport will take 30.85 h for the scenario 1 (road transport), the costs will be 8,379 € (16.429 €/t) and the transport will take 100.68 h for the scenario 2 (rail transport), and the costs will be 10,579 € (20.645 €/t) and the transport will take 107.60 h for the scenario 3 (combined transport). With respect to the shipping costs, the most advantageous transport
scenario will be the scenario 2 (rail transport). With respect to the transport time, the most advantageous transport scenario will be the scenario 1 (road transport). The use of the combined transport (scenario 3) is much cheaper than the use of road transport (scenario 1). The calculation made in the user interface of the model is shown in the figure 3. Cargo
510 t, palletized goods
Route
Prague (CZ) – Hamburg (D)
Sc. 1
30 km (CZ, toll-free roads) + 114 km (CZ, toll roads) + 531 km (D, toll roads) + 30 km (D, toll-free roads) = 705 km
Sc. 2
152 km (CZ) + 537 km (D) = 689 km
Sc. 3
30 km (CZ, road, toll-free) + 152 km (CZ, rail) + 537 km (D, rail) + 30 km (D, road, toll-free) = 749 km
Shipping price Sc. 1
17 769 € (34,841 €/t; 0,049 €/tkm)
Sc. 2
8 379 € (16,429 €/t; 0,024 €/tkm)
Sc. 3
10 579 € (20,645 €/t; 0,028 €/tkm)
Transport time Sc. 1
2,22 h (CZ) + 8,63 h (D) + 20,00 h (breaks and handling) = 30,85 h
Sc. 2
18,24 h (CZ) + 64,44 h (D) + 18,00 h (handling) = 100,68 h
Sc. 3
18,70 h (CZ) + 64,90 h (D) + 24,00 h (breaks and handling) = 107,60 h
Tab. 4: The sample calculation 7.
Conclusion
The goal of the creation of the model was finding out some conditions in which it is possible to increase the competitiveness of rail transport against road transport. The model allows a comparison of the road, rail and combined transport where the rail transport provides the major part of the route, and the road transport provides the connections from the place of origin and to the target place (the ‘door to door’ concept). The results of the comparison can be used for an improvement of services offered by rail carriers to the potential customers when a rail carrier offers a complex transport service. Performed calculations show the potential of the combined transport where a rail part of the route will take the greatest possible share. A needed revival of the rail freight transport consists in establishing of a complex network of intermodal logistic centers and offering of complex transport service. The shipping price and not the transport time is crucial for a shipping of the most of the cargo, and with respect to this the combined transport can successfully compete with the road transport. A condition for the use of combined transport is an easy accessibility of it and this means a complex service offered in the network of one carrier so a customer would not have to arrange the individual parts of the transport separately which is demanding in general and it discourages him from using the combined transport. 8.
References
[1] Srovnávací studie jednotkových nákladů mezi silniční a železniční nákladní dopravou v zemích EU a Švýcarsku, ČVUT FD, 2013 [2] Srovnávací model nákladů a spotřeby času v silniční a železniční nákladní dopravě, ČVUT FD, 2013
