Lightening the Load Marco Polo Leads the Way
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LIGHTENING THE LOAD MARCO POLO LEADS THE WAY LIGHTENING THE LOAD - MARCO POLO LEADS THE WAY CONTENTS > Introduction – Marco Polo makes a difference 2 > The hardest part is to convince clients –Reefer Express 4 > Wind power takes the train – ENERCON Tri-Modal 5 > Big clients are more demanding – Via Danube 6 > Less paperwork = less cost – Short Sea XML 7 > More ferry space for bigger trucks – CGTK 8 > Bottled water by the trainload – Sirius 1 9 > Bringing Tangiers closer – Marocco Seaways 10 > Marco Polo was indispensable – T-REX 11 > Rail cuts time and raises quality – L.O.G.I.S.T.I.C. 12 > A freight-only weekend ferry – Gulf Stream 13 > Fixed link delivers the goods – Scandinavian Shuttle 14 European Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation > e-Learning fills skills gap – EWITA 15 Lightening the load - Marco Polo leads the way Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities > A one-stop shop for north-south freight – ItaloExpress 16 2009 - 24 pp. - 21 cm x 29.71 cm ISBN 978-92-9202-062-0 > Baltic shuttle wins back business – BaSS 17 DOI 10.2826/14295 Photos: Cover © EACI; page 2 © EC, © Dan Barnes/ iStockphoto.com; page 3 © Edward Todd/ > Innovative containers ease modal shift – FGI System 18 iStockphoto.com, © Digital Vision/Getty images; page 7 © Rafael Ramirez Lee/iStoclphoto.com; page 10 © Darren Deans/iStockphoto.com; > All aboard for inter-modal learning – GLAD 19 page 14 © DG REGIO/EC; page 15 © Johannes Norpoth/iStockphoto.com; > A mark of quality – The WestMed Bridge 20 page 21 © Duisport/Rheinhold The maps in this brochure are for illustrative purposes only. > Definitely worth the effort – DZRS 21 > EU support enhances credibility – Ro-Ro Past France 22 > Green customers want modal shift – Euro Reefer Rail Net 23 > Upriver by boat and truck – ETS Elbe 24 Find out more about Marco Polo online at http://ec.europa.eu/marcopolo This brochure is published by the Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation of the European Commission. © European Communities, 2009 Design and layout: Tipik s.a./Chili con carne The responsibility for the content of this publication lies with the authors. It does not necessarily represent the opinion of the European Community. Statements made by Marco Polo project coordinators in this brochure reflect their own views and not necessarily those of the EACI or the European Commission. The EACI is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained herein. The information contained is given for information purposes only and does not legally bind any of the parties involved. MARCO POLO MAKES A DIFFERENCE Efficient transport is the lifeblood of the European The projects described in the following pages economy. We take fast and cheap delivery from come from all regions of Europe. New rail and factory to consumer across Europe for granted. inland waterway projects criss-cross the EU Road is often the preferred transport mode, from north to south and east to west. Motorways but rising road traffic volumes mean more of the sea provide a way round natural land congestion, more pollution and higher costs. barriers and congested road corridors, offering capacity along Europe’s Atlantic, Mediterranean The Marco Polo programme of the European and Baltic seaboards. Union tackles these issues head-on. It helps reduce traffic congestion on Europe’s crowded roads and promotes environment-friendly MAKING THE CASE means of transport. Its strategy is simple: shift as much freight traffic as possible from roads Many projects recognise that even if rail, short- to other modes of transport. While roads are sea shipping and inland waterways offer a overused, rail, sea and inland waterways often greener alternative and can compete with trucks have spare capacity. They also pollute less. on commercial terms, the case for switching A Marco Polo grant can make the difference still needs to be made. The business-as-usual between launching a modal-shift project or not. mentality among operators is hard to break. Some forwarders accustomed to road transport Marco Polo aims at improving the environmental fear that change might mean unnecessary risk. performance of European freight transport, Dynamic marketing, quality service and close by freeing the roads of an annual volume of customer care are shown to be vital tools for 20 billion tonne-kilometres1 of freight, the Marco Polo projects. ROAD IS OFTEN equivalent of more than 700 000 trucks a year THE PREFERRED travelling between Paris and Berlin. This Participants also enlist ingenuity and imagina- T R A N S P O R T M O D E , tion to help their projects succeed. A number B U T R I S I N G R O A D translates into substantial environmental, use innovative technologies to gain a competi- T R A F F I C V O L U M E S societal and economic benefits. MEAN MORE tive edge, or enhance service quality. These C O N G E S T I O N , include common IT management systems, GPS USERS TELL THEIR STORIES M O R E P O L L U T I O N for cargo track-and-trace, and new-design AND HIGHER COSTS. containers to facilitate intermodal handling. This brochure contains a representative sample from the wide spectrum of Marco Some utilise big European infrastructure Polo projects. The information comes from the projects, such as the Oeresund tunnel and participants themselves. A manager involved bridge between Denmark and Sweden, to in each project tells in his or her own words offer door-to-door international transport of the benefits to be derived from Marco Polo. services. Others have turned the Sunday ban Many highlight the difficulties, expected and on heavy trucks in several EU countries to their 1. ‘tonne-kilometre’ means the transport of a tonne of freight, unexpected, which they encountered – and advantage by providing weekend freight or its volumetric equivalent, over a distance of one kilometre. generally overcame. services by rail or sea. 2 PAGE A MARCO POLO GRANT CAN MAKE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAUNCHING A MODAL-SHIFT PROJECT OR NOT As a number of participants readily admit, qualify for grants. And when it comes to road they take a commercial risk in launching their traffic, the cleanest journey is the one that did projects. Even if the Marco Polo programme not take place. This is why Marco Polo actively offers funding only in the start-up period, they promotes traffic avoidance, awarding grants say it helps in two ways. On the one hand, it to road hauliers and manufacturers who de- provides an EU stamp of approval for their project vise new practices (like avoiding empty runs or and enhances their green credentials. On the using more efficient packaging) to reduce the other hand, many of the projects described here need for road transport in the first place. would not have got under way, or would have had to be scaled-down, without the benefit of a START-UP FUNDING Marco Polo grant. The grants provide financial support in the MARCO POLO IS YOUR PROGRAMME crucial start-up phase of a modal-shift project before it pays its way to viability. Grants cover Marco Polo is user-driven. If your company has periods of two to five years. Projects should a project to transfer freight from road to rail or short-sea shipping routes or inland waterways, Marco Polo is managed by the Executive Agency you may qualify for a Marco Polo grant. Your for Competitiveness and Innovation (EACI) on behalf project has to involve a cross-border route. The of the European Commission’s Directorate-General grant is performance-related. In some cases, for Energy and Transport. you only get the full amount if you meet your declared target for the amount of freight shifted be commercially viable once the period of the from the road to greener transport modes. Marco Polo funding is over. Successful par- € 6 0 M I L L I O N ticipation in a Marco Polo project enhances a I N G R A N T S A V A I L A B L E You do not have to shift all your traffic off the company’s green credentials. So far more than P E R Y E A R U N T I L 2 0 1 3 road. Inter-modal projects, combining road, 400 companies have benefited from funding. rail and waterborne transport, are eligible. The concept of transport as a door-to-door service The current programme runs until 2013, with an is important. Feeder traffic and final distribu- annual budget for grants of about €60 million. tion can be handled by road, but road journeys It publishes calls for proposal from potential should be kept as short as possible. grant applicants at the beginning of each year on its website (http://ec.europa.eu/marcopolo). In addition to direct modal-shift projects, Marco Bidders who feel they meet the conditions can Polo also funds projects that provide supporting apply for a grant. services, including management systems, inte- grated cargo control or common IT platforms Responding to its users, Marco Polo has already to facilitate inter-operability between partners simplified procedures and lowered thresholds and between modes. Training projects relat- for obtaining a grant. These are part of an ongo- ed to inter-modal transport and logistics also ing series of market-linked enhancements. 3 PAGE BARENTS SEA Reykjavík SEA OF NORWAY ÍSLAND WHITE Rovaniemi SEA Luleå Oulu Uleåborg SVERIGE Umeå SUOMI Östersund A Vassa FINLAND N I N Härnösand H T A Sundsvall O B Mikkeli F Sýt Michel O E F ROSSIJSKAJA FE L Hämeenlinna U Travastehus G NORGE Gävle DERACIJA C Falun Turku Åbo Helsinki Oslo Maarianhamina Helsingfors Uppsala Mariehamn O Västerås Tallinn Karlstad Örebro Stockholm Nyköping A EESTI Linköping E A K C R S G E R