Mr Olivera Medar and etc. - International road haulage industry in Serbia: critical issues analysis
Figure 4. Vehicle fleet size [%], 2000–2010
Figure 3. Fleet structure by environmental class [%], 2001–2010
number of vehicle fleets of less than six vehicles is rising again, after a short decline. The average vehicle fleet size increased over the years to 9.8 in 2009. In a 2007 survey (titele: Study methodology and results), the hauliers gave the following reasons for expanding the vehicle fleet: a rise in their permanent customers operations (65%); expansion to new markets (12%); positive business results (10%); the fear of losing a market share (9%). In 2010, as the share of “small” vehicle fleet grew, the average vehicle fleet size fell to nine. In close to 95 percent, these include vehicle combination (articulated vehicle or road train), indicating the prevalence of heavy goods vehicles. Articulated vehicles cover over 80%, whereas the payload of more than 95% semitrailers exceeds 20 tons. Over 80 percent of all Serbian hauliers are engaged in road transport for hire or reward, less than five percent for their own account; the others are involved in both types of hauling. Most of them are performing international operations only and for nearly 50% of them hauling is the sole business activity. According to the data recorded by the Serbian Business Registries Agency, carriage of goods by road is a dominant business activity for nearly 70 percent of hauliers, followed by different trade operations (17%) and production (7.5%). Based on the transport operations, i.e. international transport services, Serbian hauliers reported a total turnover of 35 billion dinars from October 1, 2009 to September 30, 2010. The average turnover per haulier amounts to 45 million dinars, and the average turnover per vehicle close to four million dinars [9]. Journal of Applied Engineering Science 9(2011)1, 190
STUDY METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS Key issues identification The screening process was used to identify key issues. A comprehensive list of all issues was based on a review of similar studies and industry trade publications [1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 14], and discussions with industry and university experts. The criteria for assessing the importance of each issue and their respective suitability for the study were identified as follows: • • • •
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the issue has potentially significant effects on hauliers’ productivity and quality of service, the issue has an impact on Serbian hauliers’ competitiveness, the issue is an existing issue, expected to grow in importance in the future, there are opportunities for a public sector reaction to the issue, as well as private sector solutions, where a government role in supporting them is possible, and the issue warrants additional study.
A list of potential issues was presented to the industry experts during a workshop organised in December 2006 at the Faculty of Transport and Traffic Engineering in Belgrade. Industry experts (primarily haulage operators’ executives) were asked to discuss the issues in terms of importance, and to identify additional issues that were not listed. Then a pilot survey was carried out (March 2007) and 41 hauliers were interviewed. A group of questions was designed to cover key issues.
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