Visiting address:

Erasmus University Rotterdam

Room H12-05

Burgemeester Oudlaan 50

Postal address:

Room H12-07

P.O. box 1738

3000 DR Rotterdam

Year 2010/ 2011 - Issue 4– June 2011

Sustainability

From the president

Activities

page 2

page 3

InTrans

Sustainability and New Sources of Energy

Page 10

page 12

Shanghai page 5

How are you Doing?

Donations and Gifts Page 11

Back to the Future page 14

From the president

Page 2 InTrans, June 2011

Annually the Sustainable Transport Award is being granted to a city anywhere in the world

that progressed by increasing mobility over the year “while reducing transportation green-

house and air pollution emissions and improving safety for cyclists and pedestri-

ans” (Institute for Transportation and Development Policy). Over the last couple of years we

see more and more Asian cities, and especially Chinese ones, being nominated (Guangzhou

actually won this year!). This stresses the presence of the – as we all know – extremely

rapid growing economy of China, but apparently they also pay significant attention to the

environmental issues that accompany such growth. However, applying the matter of

„sustainability‟ to China makes me wonder if China will now and in the future be able to cap-

ture its current growth and regeneration in the country. More critically we may ask whether

China should want to sustain the growth in its economy. In basic economics „growth‟ might

be considered as a positive feature. At the same time however, that same basic economics

teaches us that almost every economic question intrinsically compels you to answer with: „it

depends‟. „It depends‟ on the kind of feature happening – i.c. growth. It depends on the his-

torical background of country or region in question, on the cultural, institutional, geographi-

cal, governmental, legal foundations and situations in place. Furthermore, it depends on the

composition and characteristics of the audience. A change in someone‟s habitat is not neces-

sarily good or bad (and especially not always received in good order as we saw in our last

issue of the InTrans on „Growth‟). While one group of people might benefit from the initial

situation, probably another group will appear to benefit from the new situation. Moreover,

the degree of sustainability of the alterations does not only depend on how the latter group

handles the changes, but – more importantly, I would say – how the rest of the (global) so-

ciety receives and incorporates these developments.

But, back to basics, I am of course no expert, and when it comes down to experience I can

only rely on our impressions and adventures of our study trip to Shanghai last month. How-

ever, I think that what I have just stated about alterations, incorporation and sustainability

can be confirmed by what we have seen and witnessed while being in Shanghai. Some areas

of the city really show the latest developments in the country and express the message that

China wants to send out to the rest of the world. Yet other areas still show what China –

probably – looked like some 30 years ago, where the people living there have no clue of the

developments and consequent chances and opportunities in the rest of the country. Hence I

would say that in the end it all comes down to how well all these groups, factors and fea-

tures melt together into society.

Not only China of course, but every country, sector, city, company, or family can only sus-

tain when every aspect falls into place. For associations like Transito every aspect of stu-

dents, members, alumni, partners and others interested in our business has to fit into the

puzzle in order for us to survive. Hence we can state, in the end, that sustainability is rather

relative: the sustainability of concepts fundamentally depends on the presence of an advoca-

te for its purpose

- Linde Korstjens, President Transito

Page 3 InTrans, June 2011

Activities

Teacher of the Year award

As new initiative, Transito has set up a Teacher of the Year award as a token of appreciation

from the Urban, Port and Transport Economics master students towards the teaching staff.

Because of the high quality of the staff during lectures and the challenging assignments, it

has been a tough competition between all teachers. Also the composition of the entire group

led to good discussions in our field of interest, with many different opinions.

It is my honor, as secretary of Transito, to unveil to winner of the first Transito Teacher of

the Year award…. Mr. Dr. Peran van Reeven!

The lectures of Peran were very motivating and the way he creates an view on a specific to-

pic by providing you with certain articles for an assignment, and then critisise the same arti-

cles in his own presentation, makes you wonder what would be the right viewpoint. But then

again, it all depends…

On behalf of the 23rd board of Transito, I would also like to use this opportunity to thank the

entire teaching staff: Alexander Otgaar, Bart Kuipers, Erik Braun, Erwin van Tuijl, Giuliano

Mingardo, Jan van den Borg, Jeroen Klijs, Larissa van der Lugt, Michiel Nijdam and Peran

van Reeven for this great year. Moreover, we want to thank the supporting staff: Ankimon

Vernède and Marlies Vossen.

“ Thank you all for your votes! I am honored and proud to be the very first Transito Teacher

of the Year. If the price would have been a challenge cup, I should have dropped it in accor-

dance with recent custom. Luckily, it is not so that I can treasure it. I really appreciate the

motivation, where the certificate states "For having interesting perspectives on the topics

and being able to effectively convey these views to the students". Given the concept of my

lectures, I really owe this election to your participation. In last year's course, we had par-

ticularly good discussions during class. In Dutch, we had a "klik"! For next year, my ambition

is to defend this award. The competition is fierce since we have very good lecturers at the

department, but I will go for at least a double... Thanks again! ”

-Peran van Reeven-

By: Ilse Groothuis and Henri Verboon

Page 4 InTrans, June 2011

Mainport Talent Dinner

On the 7th of June, a group of our master students have been invited to join the Mainport

Talent Dinner at the SS Rotterdam. This initiative has been set up by Watertalent.nl, a mari-

time career website offering interesting jobs and internships on every level, from university

graduate to people with years of experience in the field.

During the 5-course meal, students got the opportunity to learn more about the companies

in a relaxed atmosphere, by talking to the HR professionals at each table. The dinner itself

was prepared and served by the CEOs and other high ranked management professionals of

15 Rotterdam based maritime companies, like the

Port of Rotterdam Authority, Deltalinqs, the

Broekman Group, Hamburg Süd and the Royal

Burger Group, which is unique compared to the

usual company dinners. During the excellent din-

ner students also got the opportunity to talk to

these CEOs themselves, which led to interesting

conversations about the maritime and logistical

business. We would like to thank Watertalent.nl

and Dr. Bart Kuipers for this opportunity to join

the dinner and are looking forward to next year‟s

dinner.

Former Board Dinner

This year Transito decided to organize a Former Board Dinner. On June 17th, 20 former

board members of Transito gathered at Humphrey‟s at the Kop van Zuid. It took a while to

find the contact details of the devoted Transito board members from the past, but thanks to

the advanced social networks we were able to contact almost all the previous board mem-

bers since the 6th board (1993-1994) of Transito. The evening was very much appreciated

by everyone. Old memories relived and business cards were exchanged. It was very nice to

see for the current board where students like us can end up in the future. It was clear that

the term logistics can be taken very broad in choosing a profession. The many different oc-

cupations of the former board members were discussed which was very interesting. The

event was received very enthousiastically and recurrence in the future is definitely recom-

mended to keep the ties between the former board members and Transito strong.

Page 5 InTrans, June 2011

On the 9th of May we left with 15 student from our master to Shanghai. Shanghai is a city

with the size of the province of Utrecht and 23 million residents, that is experiencing a tre-

mendous growth. This growth is largely due to trade and its associated activities. The dura-

tion of the study trip was ten days, during which we did many interesting activities. Not only

the visits to the companies and the university was nice, but the city tour and a visit to a

place outside of Shanghai was also interesting. The place outside Shanghai was called Zhu-

jiajiao. This city, build in 1700, can be seen as the Venice of China. Zhujiajiao is surrounded

by water and has therefore many old bridges that are very beautiful to see. We also went to

the two highest buildings in Shanghai to see the smoggy but amazing view. These buildings

are the Shanghai World Financial Center and Jin Mao Tower, respectively, 492 and 421 me-

ters high. We also made a river cruise in the evening over the Huangpu River, where the dif-

ferent styles of buildings were clearly visible on both sides of the river.

The trip got off to a fast start, namely with a ride on the Maglev train. This train, which

reached a speed of 431 km p/h, took us from the airport Pudong to the metro station near

our hostel. There cannot be a better start for students who study logistics. The first day was

mainly a day to explore the area around the hostel. The hostel (Hostel Shanghai Phoenix)

was located in the city center so that many activities could be reach by foot. For longer trips

we took the subway that stopped near our hostel.

The second day we had a lecture at the Shanghai Normal University. Through our contact

with Rachel Feng, who worked in the spring of 2011 temporarily at Erasmus University, we

came in contact with Steven Kool, who works for the Rotterdam Commercial Representative

Office (RCRO). RCRO aims to help companies from the Netherlands establishing a relation-

ship with China and vice versa. The focus is on Rotterdam and Shanghai, because the vast

majority of trade between the Netherlands and China, is between Rotterdam and Shanghai.

Steven gave an interesting lecture about rapid industrial development of China in recent

years. China is the country with the largest population of the world, so projects like the ex-

pansion of the Port of Shanghai was done by the Chinese themselves and no (or barely) for-

eign companies were involved.

For the third day we approached the company Vopak for an in-house day, which also in-

cluded a tour with a bus over the terminal. Vopak is a global tank terminal operator special-

izing in the storage and handling of liquid and gaseous chemical and oil products. Vopak

Shanghai is located in the largest industrial park in China, Shanghai Chemical Industry Park

(SCIP). In the morning we were picked up by a bus from our hostel, and arrived at half past

twelve at Vopak. After the presentation we got a bus tour over the terminal. The terminal is

situated on a long pier which ensures that ships with cargo are less affected by tides. This in

-house day was very interesting.

Shanghai By: Ilse Groothuis

Page 6 InTrans, June 2011

The visit to the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall (SUPEC), was also very entertain-

ing. Shanghai is the most developed city of China, and is the economic center for China,

which ensures that the number of highly educated people in the city rises rapidly. However,

the city has a great contrast between rich and poor, which is clearly visible in the city. Even

though there are many skyscrapers, in side streets people live close to each other in small

and old houses. SUPEC provides a clear overview of both the history and the future of the

city. Also planning for sustainability and greening is clearly highlighted in the hall. It explains

not only SUPEC emphasis on the city environment but also the industry of the city. Public

transportation, the construction of the deep sea terminal in Shanghai and the two airports in

Shanghai are mapped using models and timelines with photos. The Chinese are very proud

of the city of Shanghai and this is visible, the city is well maintained and kept clean by the

municipality.

The fourth activity of our study trip was the visit to the largest seaport in the world. The port

of Shanghai is split up in many different parts, we have visited the Yangshan deep sea ter-

minal, in the southern part of Shanghai. This port is built 32 km from the coast and is built

on several islands. The port is connected to the land with one of the longest sea bridges in

the world. For our students this was an intriguing experience. After a drive of one and a half

hour we arrived at the Yangshan deep sea terminal. After having taken many pictures of this

impressive spot in the sea, we got a tour in the visitor center where the creation of this port

was described. The center had a large model that showed the entire harbor. The reason why

this port has been built in the sea has again to do with the tides. Another reason is that the

passage of the ships is easier because the channel is 16 meters deep, therefore large ships

can easily reach the port.

The last activity relating to the study was a lecture by Rachel Feng at the Normal University

of Shanghai. She described the economic development of China over the past 10 years.

China is since the 80's becoming more open for the world. This led to more exports and im-

ports, due to high demand. More and more workers moved from the "poor" west to the

"rich" east to make money for their families. Now it's the other way around: businesses are

increasingly drawn to the west because of cheap labor costs. A disadvantage of this is that

the facilities are much worse than in eastern China, because of the lack of development in

these cities compared to the east. Rachel also showed examples of government involve-

ment; in 2010 the World Expo was in Shanghai, where the topic of sustainability was domi-

nating. For the occasion the amount of smog in the city should be at a minimum. The gov-

ernment forced some companies to shut down their industry in exchange for a fee, to reduce

the pollution. During the Expo, the sky was clear and smog free, two days after the Expo

ended, the amount of smog was again exactly the same as before the closure of businesses.

This indicates that the government is very powerful and that the line of legislation is very

short: if something must happen it happens. Every five years, a five year plan is created.

The central point of the current plan is to increase the development of western China.

Shanghai is becoming more expensive to live in, graduates can no longer live in the city but

the city will eventually suffer from this. The city will be influenced by wealthy Chinese, Euro-

InTrans, June 2011

Page 7

The rapid development of the city shows a big difference compared to the Netherlands,

where everything needs to be communicated and screened by many laws and regulations.

It's very interesting to see how a closed communist country becomes a country with the

largest port in the world and can have cities that have more inhabitants than some coun-

tries. We all had a great time in Shanghai and we would like to thank Vopak, Steven Kool

(RCRO), Rachel Feng (Normal University) and the Vereniging Trustfons Erasmus Universiteit

Rotterdam, for making this trip possible.

Below you can read the experience of a Greek student about this trip, Androniki

Parthenopoulou.

Day one: Boarding and leave with 12 Dutch, 2 Greeks, 1 Surinamese

Because of the dominating number of Dutch people, I was trying to learn Dutch with a crash

course from KLM on board; thus, I was practicing speaking Dutch with my fellow classmates

while crossing Asia…

Day two: Please take me back home…

After 35 minutes in the train, 3 hours at Schiphol and 10 hours in the airplane we finally ar-

rived… Welcome? No way! 35° C is way too hot, air pollution more than visible, a strange

smell and horns around. It was so crowded! Ok, thanks a lot and bye bye… China is not a

place for me! Fortunately, in the evening things got better and after a nice Chinese dinner I

started feeling good. The walk to the Bund next to the Huangpu river, the view from the

skyscrapers of Pudong, the Shanghai World Financial center, and the Oriental Pearl Tower

made up for all the discomfort and initial disappointment! Ouf finally, I felt that I could stay

there for some days! The first impression is not always the best one!

Day three: Relief…

When you visit such a different country for the first time, so many kilometers away from

your home it is nice when you meet people you already know. One of them is Rachel, the

kind Chinese professor whom we have already met in the Netherlands, and Steven Kool. In

the evening we had some drinks at a nice discotheque.

Day four: VOPAK means Happiness

Before the visit to Vopak, I expected to see some Dutch people there to welcome us! No no

no… this is China! A young lady from the commercial part welcomed us and transferred us in

the lunch room for a Chinese lunch….umm Bon appétit! We looked nervous and hesitated to

eat until the two managers showed up! They were smiling all the time and made us feel

more comfortable! On the way back everybody took a power nap, still exhaused from the

nice evening the day before.

Day five: In search of a traditional village

Is Shanghai a traditional Chinese town? No! So, we decide to visit a traditional village about

one hour away from Shanghai.. I thought that I was still in Shanghai, but the small village

was kind of traditional and a touristic attraction too!

Page 8 InTrans, June 2011

The rest of the tourists were Chinese, which was no surprise at all! It was a nice experience;

we walked around the village; bought some small souvenirs; tried to talk with local people;

had fun; tasted the delicious food, and visited all the museums in order to appreciate the

Chinese culture.

Day six: „Transito‟ citytrip

We took the Transito walk around the city to discover many places that people must visit.

Some of them were in the old town and the Yu Yuan garden. This old town is a crowded and

commercial town which despite the fact that it is called old, it is an artificial town. It is there

in honor of the Chinese architecture and culture in this western style city! Also, we visited a

nice place where you can find shops, malls and other western type things… which felt like

home… Next to this, there was a site were the communist party had its first congress, which

was a great contrast!

Day seven: Ajax vs Twente

In the morning, we visited the Urban Planning Exhibition Hall. It was a nice opportunity to

check our knowledge about Shanghai and if there were any other interesting places to visit!

But when it got dark, we had to attend the final match from the Dutch Champion! We are

not alone any more. Other Dutch people also came to watch the match, and the majority

supported Twente but Ajax supporters were more outspoken… Anyway better next time,

Twente!

Day eight: Yangshan deep sea terminal: Chinese are Great!

They made a bridge 32 kilometers long in order to connect the mainland with a residential

island which they turned into a terminal in only two years! Because they did not listen to the

suggestion of the Dutch counselors to create rail trucks as well on the same bridge, they are

going to construct a new bridge next to the first one! Amazing? Yes and the cost is surpris-

ingly low!

Day nine: Normal University for a lecture by Rachel Feng

A lecture from our Rachel! Rachel made a presentation on contemporary China… The differ-

ences between the developed east cities, like Shanghai which have developed in the western

style, and the poor western part of the country which lacks basic things like hospitals, and

the people are very poor! The development process is continuing and Chinese welcome all

the western people that want to work with them! The Dean of RSM is going to work for the

business school of Shanghai next year! What do you think? Ready to work in China?

Day ten: Do what you want!

Ok this is the last day in China… What can we do? Last minute shopping, a final walk around

the city, the last Chinese lunch, coffee and beers on the roof garden of our nice and clean

hostel…. And then, it is time to leave…

Day eleven: Nederland I love you! Xie xie China….

InTrans, June 2011

Page 9

Page 10 InTrans, June 2011

During the last years the humanity faces the most serious oil crisis in the history of global

economy. People all over the world are staring helplessly, the price of oil is growing rapidly

and the problems, especially in developing countries and small economies, have grown also

because of this. It is very easy and also quite convenient sometimes, to blame the modern

capitalism and the political imperialism that are hidden behind this crisis and may lead to

new conquest wars. The oil based global industry abets these wars and all of us also as cli-

ents. The real question is what the community can do about this.

First of all we should make clear that the oil is never going to extinct. While the time is pass-

ing the cheap oil will extinct but via the development of the technology, year by year new

sources will be found and the new methods of pumping may be more expensive but still the

problem is not extinction.

From an ecological point of view the pumping of new sources of oil is a crime against the

planet, because these sources are much deeper than the existence and the procedure of

drilling is harmful. Moreover the gas emissions are harmful for the air and may cause the

global warming and the greenhouse effect. Without doubt oil is not the cleanest source of

energy and everybody agrees that we should turn into more sustainable ways of energy. But

how can the sustainable ways of energy help the modern economy?

From an economic perspective, the oil is convenient and the market and the industries have

already been adapted to this way of energy. The problem is that after the financial crisis of

2008 the structure of global economy is in doubt. The idea of finding out and developing

sustainable energy has become more and more famous during the last years. However, be-

fore the crisis it was just a luxury and something for which the ecologists were trying to con-

vince the market but the economists were stuck to oil.

Nowadays, clearer than in the past, the sustainable ways of energy can combine the ecologi-

cal benefits with a real help to the recovery of the economy. That can be achieved by the

new chances and possibilities opened after a change in steps from oil based industry to a

multi-energized one. The new jobs in many sectors and the new ways of producing energy

can lead except from social and ecological benefits, to the wideness of the economy. These

benefits will be more obvious in the developing countries since although the new technolo-

gies are quite expensive at the moment, through the years the developing countries will be-

come more independent from energy.

All things considered, it is the best period for getting the sustainable ways of energy to the

broad audience. The ecologists used to claim this many years ago but now the economist

should realize also that is a way of leading the economy one step further. Like the crisis of

1929 was got over by means of marketing and advertisement, the crisis of 2008 can be got

over by means of sustainable development.

PS: Nuclear energy is clearer than oil and coil but still is not a sustainable way for energy

even though some politicians are trying to convince people for that!

By: Apostolis Giantsidis

Sustainability and new sources of energy

InTrans, June 2011

Page 11

Every year Transito looks for companies that might appeal to the direction of the master

program of Urban, Port & Transport Economics. As an association linked to the Erasmus Uni-

versity Rotterdam Transito is dependent on sponsors and members for its income.

However, membership is directly linked to the fact that you studied at the university and joi-

ned Transito as a member. Up until now there was no option for 'outsiders', non-students, and people from other places to be involved with Transito without engaging into a spon-

sorship of any kind.

Therefore we introduced the possibility to become a benefactor of Transito. This is in the first place directed at monetary support, but can of course also be in kind. There is no mini-mum level set, which means that we are thankful for any gift donated to Transito once,

monthly, or yearly.

In return you first of all support Transito and provide more chances for the association to grow, extend its scope and offer more to its students, members, sponsors, and last but not

least its benefactors. Moreover, we will keep you informed of - for instance - activities of

Transito, send you our magazine InTrans 4 times a year, and many more!

Hence, if you are interested in regional economics, port activities, and transport related to-

pics, or if you just appreciate the effort students put in to make Transito a success every ye-

ar, please send an e-mail to info@transito.nu and become a donor of Transito!

If you donate more than 25 euro you will receive a nice Transito red “stress” car!

Donations and Gifts

Together with this InTrans comes a Thank

you!-card. We want to thank you for your in-

trest in Transito. The card is pre-folded, the-

refore all you have to do is put it on your

desk and think of Transito if you need in-

terns, student-assistents, business ideas or

other issues that involves the knowledge of

Transito!

How are you Doing?

My name is Lenneke Wester, and I graduated in UPT in January 2010. I also studied Dutch

Law, and in July 2010 I finished that too. The question that almost everybody is struggling

with after studies popped up in my head too: what to do now? In my years at university, I

visited a lot of companies through in-house days or business courses. Moreover, I was a

regular visitor of the Erasmus Recruitment Days, starter days, career events and so on. I

can really recommend this, because it gives you a good idea of what you like and dislike. Via

a friend I came in contact with NS Poort, the real estate division of Netherlands Railways

(NS). I decided to apply for a job here, and after three visits, an online test and an assess-

ment, I am now happily part of the NS-club as NS trainee at NS Poort.

The traineeship at NS is unique in the fact that you will learn on the job, literally. I have a

„normal‟ job for two years in which I learn and develop, and in which I apply the things I

learned in the various excellent courses, workshops and guidance talks that are part of the

traineeship. My boss is a very important person in my learning curve in these two years: he

is very enthusiastic about giving me enough room to operate, and enough challenge to learn

from, which is great! After these two years there is a „test of competence‟ where I have to

show what I have done and learned in these two years, what my strengths are and on what

field I want to develop further. If NS agrees on this, they will take me on permanently.

NS Group is the shareholder of various daughters. The most commonly known is NS

Reizigers (NS Passengers). This company is responsible for riding the trains: they make the

railway timetable and for this company the conductors, train drivers and tickets and services

personnel work. You may also know NS HiSpeed, that does the same as NS Reizigers, but

then for the high speed trains. The upkeep of the train material is done by NedTrain. The in-

ternational daughter is Abellio, that you may have seen in the UK. And the daughter where I

work is NS Poort, that is responsible for all real estate owned by NS.

The focus for NS Poort is stations and station environments. My daily work therefore in-

volves stations, in the broadest sense of the word. I work at the Research and Concept-

development division within NS Poort, where we study stations in their functionality (how

many trains, where do people walk, how many people are there every day, is there enough

waiting space, etc), in their value (how many shops are filled, how much money do people

spend, what do people think about the station, what does the station look like, etc) and their

overall interaction with the station area (how is the connection with other public transport,

what does the environment look like (offices, houses, shops), etc).

My area of expertise is the value that travelers give to a station. Every quarter, we question

our customers on stations, to know how the station is performing in customer satisfaction.

This is very new research for NS, and I am working on the design of the research, the op-

eration of this research as well as the level of knowledge about this research in the

In this part of the InTrans, we ask Transito members to tell us something about their

job. In this issue: Lenneke Wester. Lenneke enrolled in the UPTE program in Sep-

tember 2007 and graduated in 2010. Currently, she works as a trainee for the NS,

the Dutch rail company.

Page 12 InTrans, June 2011

organization. A very interesting and exciting job! I am really in the spotlights on this one,

and I can play a huge role in how NS Poort thinks about their stations now and in the future.

Moreover, I am working on a so called „tactical project‟ for the traineeship. This project

should answer a question from one of the divisions within NS, that wants to know what the

best sourcing option is for their work. I had to reach back to bachelorcourses for that one! I

am working with three other trainees on a market analysis and through this work I get to

know a lot about the European market on trains. It is a lot of work, but very interesting.

If you want to know more about my work, about the NS traineeship or about NS in general,

you are very welcome to contact me on lenneke.wester@ns.nl.

Advertisement possibility

Put your company logo/internship possibility/advertisement here, and reach many

(graduated) students, with a focus on Urban, Port and Transport Economics.

For more details check our website or contact Transito via info@transito.nu

InTrans, June 2011

Page 13

Page 14 InTrans, June 2011

The German town of Hagen is the home of trucking company Neuhaus, specialized in trans-

porting building materials. The owner, Peter Neuhaus, grew sick of the high fuel prices and

the European regulations for trucks. One day, when he stared out of the window to the field

nextdoor with his two horses, he got an idea.

As from that day, the building materials are not only transported with six trucks, but also

with a horse and carriage. Neuhaus is very enthusiastic about his new modality: the horses

can pull up to 3,5 tons and despite being a bit slower, he is not bound by too many rules.

The trucking businesses have been stuggeling for years. On the one side costs are rising,

mainly because of the high fuel prices, and on the other hand the trucking rates are sinking,

due to several different reasons. And as a bonus the European Union and national govern-

ments are taking a lot of measures without considering the consequences it has for the sec-

tor.

This is strange really, as trucking is a very important business for keeping the economy go-

ing. The Dutch slogan “without transport everything stops” is not a lie. Shops will remain

empty, gas stations will run out of gas, production will come to a screeching halt. Many

many jobs are somehow related to the transport business.

Even though the Dutch government has now officially approved the LZV (longer, heavier

truck) and it is no longer in a testing phase, the rest of Europe is still scared of this concept.

This is irrational as many different reports and several practice tests (including the 10 years

of testing in the Netherlands) have already proven it to be a safe and environmentally

friendly solution to current transport issues. But among politicians the fear of bigger trucks

overcomes logic.

The German Maut, the road tax for trucks, does not make things easier either, especially

since other European countries are looking at the flow of tax money poring in and are now

thinking of implementing it themselves. The fact that the German trucking business is close

to death and that the Polish truckers have happily taken over the Germans' work is often

overlooked.

The Maut was originally meant to get rid of old stinking trucks and have them replaced by

new, cleaner trucks. In itself a good cause, but why only for trucks? A 40-ton truck does not

produce 40 times more pollution than a 1-ton car, so aren't passenger cars relatively more

polluting? Besides, trucks serve an economic purpose, can we say the same about all cars?

Due to the high rates of Maut, trucks that are only 3 years old are now considered un-

wanted. This is a problem as the average life span of a truck is at least 5 years. And who will

buy a second-hand, 3-year-old truck any more? Trucking companies are forced to invest in

cleaner materials, but at the same time their current trucks, only 3 years old, are practically

worthless.

Back to the Future By: Maarten van der Westen

Page 15 InTrans, June 2011

The environment is a worthy cause, obviously, and the less pollution a truck produces, the

better. But due to the rate of improvement forced upon truck manufacturers by the Euro-

pean Union, there are serious downsides to a cleaner exhaust fume. Few know that all the

technology to make a truck cleaner will make a truck less fuel efficient. Trucks today are less

fuel efficient than trucks from the 90s, because of all the new technology onboard.

Also, the extra technology is heavy too. When the truck is heavier, you will need a bigger,

more powerful engine to drive at the same speed. And bigger engines are... yes: more pol-

lutant. So you need bigger trucks to comply with the rules, but as you need to replace your

old truck with a bigger new one, you are at the same time defying the same rules. And at

the same time, trucking companies are forced to do major investments, with their current

assets in ruins, in an already unstable economy, driving them towards bankruptcy.

Meanwhile, Mr. Neuhaus loves his horses and carriage. He is even considering buying a new

set of horses and a new carriage. The trucks will stay, but the horses are a welcome addition

to the company.

We all want a better future and we all want to see some sustainability in the current way of

doing business. But surely, creating so many rules and regulations that trucking business

owners see the need to go back in time and use a horse and carriage for their transport...

Isn't that a bit like putting the cart before the horse?

InTrans, June 2011

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Linde Korstjens

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The editors would like to thank for this issue:

Henri Verboon

Androniki Parthenopoulou

Apostolis Giantsidis

Lenneke Wester

Maarten van der Westen

Page 16

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