Methodological Foundations of Renewal and Expansion of Car Fleet

Currently, Russian international road transport carriers do not have sufficient potential to successfully compete with their foreign partners. The main reasons for this are significant deterioration of the car fleet and its non-compliance to modern environmental requirements, lack of own funds for timely renovation and development of the motor transport fleet, as well as systemic lag in development of transportation technologies and their logistics support.The objective of the article is to substantiate the choice of rational measures to solve the problem of expanded reproduction of car fleet used in international road haulage. The methodology used in preparation of the article is based on the use of general scientific methods in combination with special methods, including the analysis of statistical data on international road haulage, a comparative analysis of the state of the car fleet of Russian carriers, considering the basic conditions and operational characteristics, classification of the fleet of trucks based on typification of their operational characteristics with subsequent subdivision of this fleet into three main groups, an overview analysis and benchmarking of foreign operating experience and future development of car fleet, an analysis of the economic and legal possibilities of raising funds for renewal of car fleet.The article examines and studies: a) urgency of solving the problem of renewal and expansion of the car fleet used by Russian carriers in international road transportation; b) foreign experience and trends in development of fleet used for international haulage; c) the main directions of providing economic opportunities for transition to expanded renewal of vehicles; d) analysis of the legal possibilities of providing public support for expanded reproduction of the motor transport fleet of Russian international road carriers including through the use of public-private partnerships.Based on the results of the study, proposals have been developed aimed at ensuring renewal and expansion of car fleet and increasing the efficiency of international road haulage operations.

Driving Duration Difference in Road Freight Transport Between Vehicles Up to and Over 3.5 Tonnes

Working conditions for drivers in the European Union and Slovakia are governed by European and National regulations. Regulations lay down rules on driving times, breaks and rest periods for drivers of lorries and buses to improve working conditions and road safety. There is no doubt that with increasing freight performance, the number of carriers and vehicles in the field of road freight transport is also increasing. Therefore, in connection with the current EU legislation, which aims to increase road safety, attention is paid to adopting regulations for all road haulage operators and carriers. The purpose of this paper is to show difference between road freight transport performed by vehicles up to 3,5 tonnes and vehicles transporting goods where the maximum permissible mass of the vehicle, including any trailer, or semi-trailer, exceeds 3,5 tonnes.

ESTIMATING THE COST OF GREENING OF SHORTSEA VESSELS AND THE MARKET POTENTIAL OF GREEN RETROFIT

Shortsea shipping (SSS) has attracted the interest of re-searchers and policy-makers as a viable transport alternative against mainly road haulage. Despite policy initiatives, SSS has not increased its market share nor attracted fresh interest in the market, so the fleet is ageing. Lately, due to the de-carbonization effort of the maritime industry and generally of greening the economy, SSS becomes an interesting trans-port alternative that deserves further research. This work focuses on the cost of decarbonising the global SSS fleet with a parallel interest on the EU fleet. This cost estimation is based on recent publications, and considers ships expected to be ordered and demolished; for the existing fleet the cost of retrofitting with greening technology is also estimated. Based on reasonable assumptions, the potential market of wind-assisted technologies is estimated too. This work is an outcome of the WASP Interreg project.

The Dialectics of Technology Standardization

Technology standardization unfolds as a dialectic process marked by paradoxical tensions. However, standardization research has yet to provide a dialectic analysis of how tensions and management responses interact recursively over time, and with what effect. In this paper, we apply dialectics to analyze an action research study of a Swedish initiative that developed and diffused a technology standard to facilitate the integration of disparate IT systems in road haulage firms. Drawing on the technology standardization literature and our empirical analysis, we engage in midrange theorizing to capture the recursive dynamics through which standard-setters construct and respond to manifestations of three latent tensions: development versus diffusion activities, private versus public interests, and local versus global solutions. Our resulting dialectic theorizing explicates how standard-setters bring these latent tensions into being; how they construct salient tensions through the oppositional logics of polarization, complementarity, and mutuality; how they manage these tensions through splitting, integrating, and suspension responses; and how consequential functional, architectural, and organizational standardization outcomes produce a new social order in which new tensions emerge. These theoretical insights contribute to both the technology standardization and dialectics literatures.

Is There Progress towards Environmental Sustainability among Road Haulage Companies?

Road freight transport contributes to a significant and growing share of greenhouse gas emissions. This study analyses the development of environmental practices and awareness of road freight hauliers and whether hauliers witness an interest from their shippers towards energy efficiency. Results of an original survey (N = 256) conducted in 2019 among Finnish hauliers are presented and compared with those from a similar survey completed in 2011 (N = 295). The results highlight the lack of improvement in hauliers’ environmental practices during a decade when ambitious climate goals were set. Even though hauliers share the view that emissions from road freight transport must be reduced in future, their environmental practices did not change much during the 2010s. The hauliers rarely perceive an interest from their shippers towards energy efficiency. The results show that hauliers should be supported and encouraged to pursue more environmentally aware practices. Shippers in the supply chain should be a driver, not an obstacle, to increasing road hauliers’ sustainability. There should be more communication between hauliers and supply chain actors, and environmental sustainability should gain more importance when selecting carriers.

Impact of the operation of LNG trucks on the environment

The significance and importance of road freight transport in society are certainly unquestionable. As in most sectors of the economy, road freight transport has an impact on the environment. The EU seeks to eliminate, as far as possible, the negative environmental impacts of various sectors. For these reasons, several EU commitments have been made in the future to reduce emissions so that road haulage vehicles are also more environmentally friendly. Trucks that use alternative fuels, such as natural gas, are already in use today. The EU attaches importance to reducing CO2 production, and this contribution also pays particular attention to the production of CO2 vehicles using liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel compared to vehicles using standard diesel. The results show that when operating vehicles using LNG, it is possible to achieve lower CO2 production and at the same time lower vehicle noise, which is an advantage when operating vehicles in cities.