Importance of European Commission’s new initiatives in road transport for competitiveness of services provided by Polish hauliers

Abstract

Road freight transport is the main inland transport mode in the EU. International transport is fully open to competition and it is only national transport that is still subject to some restrictions. Access to the road haulage market and certain social and safety conditions (such as hours of driving) are regulated at the EU level. Taking into account changes on the market and the current situation the European Commission has decided to renew the most important regulations. The main research problem in this paper is how these new regulations will influence competitiveness of Polish hauliers. The article analyses the current competitiveness of Polish hauliers and the impact of the EC's proposals on their activities. Methodology of the research includes analysis of the scientific literature, documents of European Commission and statistical data analysis. Research findings show that Polish hauliers increased their performance and share in the European road haulage market last years. The most important factor of the competitiveness on the road transport market is the price as the quality of services is rather similar. Polish companies have competitive advantage on account of lower costs, mainly the cost of fuel and driver wages. The changes in regulations proposed in the "Europe on the Move" road package will significantly increase costs of Polish enterprises and thus decrease their competitiveness. #0# Stankiewicz, M. (2002). Konkurencyjność przedsiębiorstwa. Budowanie konkurencyjności przedsiębiorstwa w warunkach globalizacji. Toruń: TNOiK Dom Organizatora.