RHA: Rail industry needs to work more closely with road haulage sector
Date: 10 September 2007
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The rail industry must work more closely with the road haulage industry if it is to attract more freight.
According to a report from the Road Haulage Association (RHA), the rail freight market has grown significantly since the mid-1990s but will struggle to grow further without an improvement in service levels.
"To attract more freight, the rail industry has to be more pro-active in the market place, and work with the road haulage industry to make itself more user-friendly," a spokesman for the RHA told the Scotsman newspaper.
He added that communication between the two sectors could be facilitated by the introduction of an intermediary.
At the present time hauliers often find it difficult to get quotes for freight haulage from rail companies, with many failing to return calls.
Tony Berkeley of the Rail Freight Group suggested that the truckers' group does not fully understand how rail freight operates.
"Rail freight does better with big loads, more than one box at a time. It is difficult for us to give a quote for one box," he said. "It seems road hauliers are saying: 'Why don't they run trains our way?'. But it is a different way of doing it."
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