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Evaluating Short Sea Options to reduce Transport Costs Dr John Fannon (Sollerta Ltd)
Evaluating Short Sea Options to reduce Transport Costs
Dr John Fannon (Sollerta Ltd)
The Proposse Project
• An EU sponsored project promoting the use of Short Sea Shipping to reduce congestion, carbon emissions
• Partners were Aveiro, Gijon, Cork, Le Havre, Poole, Marine South East
• All multimodal options to be considered– RORO– RORO (Trailers)– LOLO
The Basic Question
• “What do the hauliers in the UK think about short sea shipping?”
• Answer – “not very much!”
• RORO is the option of choice for Freight Forwarders and Hauliers
• The Dover – Calais channel crossing is much preferred, taking 80% of the freight traffic
TruckDriver
• A web based utility using javascript• Written to help focus attention on potential cost
savings that could be achieved using short sea shipping routes
• Routes between Ireland, UK and mainland Europe (up to 2 sea crossings)
• Free to use• Hosted on
http://www.sollerta.com/truckdriver3.html
A Web-based Application
• Use of Google Maps to calculate distances• Modelling the EU Drive Directive
– Maximum daily driving times and rest breaks– Compulsory rest times
• Estimates of Freight Ferry Fares for the sea crossings (For example, using websites such as www.aferryfreight.co.uk )
• Running costs of Trucks based on RHA data– Time cost – Distance cost (including the changing cost of fuel)
• Hosted on the Sollerta website– www.sollerta.com/truckdriver3.html
Setting the Units: Distance, Currency
Choose the Vehicle
• Drop down lists to choose vehicle type and weight• Set Fuel Cost and Driver daily subsistence costs• Distance cost and time cost calculated• Option to use own cost estimates
Prepare the Route
• Routes between Ireland, UK, Mainland Europe
• Outward or return
• Can be up to 2 sea crossings
Select the Ports
• Choose the exit Port first
• Depending on the choice, other entry and exit Port options are revealed– E.g. From Cork via Swansea will give a
double crossing (the so-called land bridge from Ireland to mainland Europe)
Select the Ferry Fares
• Selecting the Ferry Fare gives the options of using fares already in the Truckdriver system or use values already negotiated with the Ferry Companies
Results from TruckDriver
Starting point - Pembroke• The Dover – Calais Route is
more cost effective for any destination in eastern France
• Destinations in western France best served by the Poole – Cherbourg route
• For other destinations in Spain and Portugal, the sea route via Gijon, Santander, Bilbao is more cost effective
The Argument against Short Sea Routes
• Infrequency of sailings – perhaps twice a week while the Dover – Calais sailings are once every 20 minutes
• At sea for 24 hours, there is no opportunity of picking up return loads
• Hauliers claim that Ferry companies are not sensitive to gender differences; many truck drivers are now female
LOLO as an alternative
• LOLO could meet all these objections
• Cost savings could be very great, as can be seen by comparing the types of ship required– Freight Ferries: complex ships, large crew,
120 lorries (see MV Cotentin)– Coastal ships: small, simple ships, small
crews, can carry large numbers (~ 650) TEU
LOLO – Debit Side• Slow – services currently offered could take a week to
transport between the ports• Perception that containers dropped of at the port could
be there for many days before being loaded on board ship
• Security – insurance risks• Many ‘actors’ in the supply chain – at least 5
– With RORO the cargo is always in the hands of a single authority
Can these be mitigated?
The ‘Sea Shuttle’ Concept
• A business system that operates smoothly and is transparent to the client
• Requires deep cooperation between the two ports at the ends of the sea line
• The ports to draw up a common set of working practices – a common QA system
• To be enshrined in a Memorandum of Agreement
Working Practices
• A Common aim and Vision• To achieve an efficient flow of goods between the
ports at competitive rates• To manage onward transport to the end
destination• To give full visibility to the client
• Common Key Performance Indicators
• Common Service Performance indicators
• Strict attention to security issues
Onward Transport
• Each port could undertake to encourage in-country hauliers to sign up to principles to complement the aims and vision– KPIs, SPIs. – Agreeing rates for haulage. – A haulier on the ports register would have first call for
any haulage job available – like a taxi rank– Depending on the level of business passing through
the ports, a trusted haulier may have a guaranteed minimum level of haulage offers per annum
– Annual assessments
Trusted Hauliers
• All contractors value certainty, whatever the business.
• If a haulier is on a Port’s trusted haulier list this could be regarded as a very good quality mark to attract other business.
• With trusted contractors, this surely must make the Freight Forwarder’s task easier
Port (UK)
Port (ES)
TruckCo
TruckCo
TruckCo
TruckCo
TruckCo
TruckCo
TruckCo
TruckCo
Summary
• RORO crossing from Western Channel Ports is cost effective for routes into Spain and Portugal
• LOLO could work and compete with RORO for certain routes– Complex management arrangements
• If LOLO is to work, the ports themselves have to carry out the essential groundwork– We recommend that ports build partnerships with
other ports, developing quality arrangements and building up a cadre of trusted hauliers to support them
