Gigaliners raise concerns among intermodal carriers and trade unions 06/10/23
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Author: Łukasz Kuś 2023/10/06
The International Union of Combined Transport by Road and Rail (UIRR), after analyzing the current legislative proposals of the European Commission of the so-called Green Freight Transport package, asked in an open letter about the goals that the legislator wants to achieve. According to this organization, the real motivation for the reform may be to defend motor carriers against a decline in their share in the transport market. The idea to introduce the so-called gigaliners also criticize the transport industry trade unions.
Let us remind you: the European Commission has initiated legislative work on draft directives that are intended to accelerate the decarbonization of freight transport, which are part of the European Green Deal policy. So far, the European Parliament and the EU Council have already received drafts of the directive on the single European railway area and an amendment to the directive on the mass and dimensions of vehicles. However, the submission of draft amendments to the combined transport directive and the e-toll directive was announced. Work on the amendment of the TEN-T directive is already underway. Industry organizations bringing together railway companies and intermodal operators criticized the fact that these directives were not presented as a single package. According to sector representatives, adopting a separate directive on the weight and dimensions of vehicles and on e-washing may support road carriers at the expense of sustainable intermodal transport.
These concerns are shared by UIRR and asks about the motivation behind the proposals presented by the EC. Is the goal to defend the 76% market share of road transport or to restore the modal balance in transport? According to the organization, the proposals published so far indicate that they are about protectionism and not sustainable development. According to the UIRR, the draft directive on vehicle sizes and weights does not contain provisions promoting the reduction of emissions in road transport, nor does it promote rail transport. Therefore it should be rejected by the European Parliament. This directive may consolidate the dominance of long-distance road transport of low-density palletized loads. These regulations may inhibit the modal shift from road to rail and even lead to the reverse transfer of cargo from trains to cars, even though combined transport is many times more efficient in terms of greenhouse gas emissions.
Questions about gigaliners
UIRR calls for specifications covering the so-called gigaliners, i.e. modular trucks, assumed their optimization for operation on the first and last mile as part of combined transport. — Interoperability between different modes of transport and intermodal compatibility should be fundamental principles to be respected throughout the Directive for any change to the weight and dimensions of heavy goods vehicles. The fragmentation of the regulatory framework of the Single European Transport Area will accelerate if changes are allowed to provide Member States with greater freedom, it was written in an open letter to the EC.
Trade unions in the transport industry associated with the European Transport Workers' Federation (ETF) also expressed criticism of the European Commission's ideas. The federation notes that longer and heavier trucks require appropriate infrastructure, driver training, on-vehicle safety equipment and careful consideration of potential market dynamics that could hinder long-term climate goals.
“While we appreciate the EC's efforts to promote greener transport, facilitating the cross-border movement of fossil fuel gigaliners is a major blow to the EC's own carbon neutral freight goals,” said Livia Spera, Secretary General of ETF.