SCIENCE & RESEARCH Rail transport International Transportation | Collection 2023 36 Semi-trailer in Germany Ongoing success story in driving the modal shift from road-to-rail Modal shift, Semi-trailer, Combined transport Over the last 15 years road transport has continued holding its dominant position, slowly increasing its share among other transport modes in Europe. In Germany, 71 % of road transport performance in 2021 was processed via semi-trailers - that can be considered as the dominant loading unit in the continental transportation segment. The goal of this article is to provide an update from our previous survey published in 2020. Eugen Truschkin O ver the last 15 years road transport has continued holding its dominant position, slowly increasing its share to 76.5 % in 2018 (in tkm) among other transport modes in Europe (UIC 2020). In Germany, 71 % of road transport performance in 2021 (220 billion tkm) was processed via semi-trailers (Federal Motor Transport Authority 2021) that can be considered as the dominant loading unit in the continental transportation segment. The goal of this article is to provide an update from our previous survey published in 2020. The hypothesis expressed in the conclusion of the previous survey: “further positive development in the modal shift of semi-trailers from road to rail in the next years can be expected” shall be examined against the latest developments (Truschkin 2020). In the following section current market- developments in the field of combined- transport by loading units are presented, followed by a discussion and a conclusion. Overview of market developments The following figure 1 represents the statistics of transport performance (tkm) by loading units in combined transport in Germany. Main takeaways can be summarized as follows: •• Overall transport performance (tkm) in combined transport in Germany has more than doubled from 25.78 b tkm to 52.08 b tkm in the period 2005-2021 •• Semi-trailers (non-accompanied transport) continue to demonstrate the strongest increase dynamics (CAGR semi-trailers non accompanied = 13 %) among all types of intermodal transport units (CAGR Containers/ Swap bodies = 2 %; CAGR ROLA = 5 %) 2005-2021 According to UIC (2020) the overall transport performance of combined transport in Europe increased by 34.3 % from 2009 to 2018 (referred to tkm), where overall rail freight transport performance increased by 17.8 % in the same period. For Germany, the share of combined transport in total rail freight has increased from 28 % in 2016 to 29 % in 2018, which is above the average indicator of 22.9 % in the European countries. Overall, the same picture as in the previous survey (Truschkin 2020) can be observed - the strongest increase in rail transport performance is generated in combined transport and specifically in the segment of non-accompanied semi-trailers in case of Germany. As indicated in figure 2, the driver for the share increase of non-accompanied semitrailers on combined transport mainly results from import, export and transit transports. Transit routes demonstrate constant increase in transport performance in the observed period. In other words, non-accompanied semitrailers appear to continue their success story in the modal shift from road to rail specifically on international routes in Germany, thus our previously stated hypothesis can be validated. Obviously, the vast majority of these transports are executed by cranable trailers due to the prevailing conventional vertical technologies. Yet, some of the existing horizontal transshipment technologies (e. g., CargoBeamer) are compatible with conventional ones and execute their operations at intermodal terminals equipped with gantry cranes or reach stackers. Figure 1: Distribution of transport performance of loading units in the combined transport (%) in Germany 2005-2021 Source: Destatis 2022 Rail transport SCIENCE & RESEARCH International Transportation | Collection 2023 37 According to the interview executed by the author of this article in December 2022 with a representative of one of the leading European semi-trailers manufacturers, no increase of the share of cranable trailers in the incoming orders (cranable vs. non cranable) has been observed over the last years. At the same time the overall order volumes for trailers have demonstrated a constant increase over years. Cranable trailers are mostly ordered by large land transport freight forwarders. The overall growing number of semitrailers along with decreasing barriers for combined transport (addressed in the follow up sections) contribute to the increasing role of this loading unit. Horizontal transshipment technologies have demonstrated dynamic development over the past years Compared to the previous survey, the dynamic developments in the field of horizontal transshipment technologies can now be observed. Two technology providers Lohr and CargoBeamer steadily strengthen their market positioning establishing as market leaders in this segment. Helrom is one of the most recent developments in the field of horizontal transshipment technologies that were launched in 2019 with Megaswing-wagons (see figure 3). In following, these technologies are briefly presented. The Leipzig-based CargoBeamer AG operates the CargoBeamer Alpin train on the route Kaldenkirchen/ Venlo (Netherlands) via Cologne (Germany) to Domossola (Italy). A total of four new intermodal trains, two for Germany and Italy each, were added to schedule in 2020, followed by additional three in 2021. In total eleven roundtrips per week are offered on this route (CargoBeamer 2021a). In 2019 the company received a financial subsidy of 7 million euros for the construction of the terminal Calais in 2019 (CargoBeamer 2019), which was put into operation in July 2021 with the domestic route to Perpignan (CargoBeamer 2021b), allowing the operation of six train pairs daily, resulting in a total of 432 semi-trailers every day. The second expansion stage is scheduled for 2023 and will double the terminal’s capacity to a total of twelve daily train pairs. In October 2021 a new connection between Calais and Domodossola was added to the network, following the goal of providing intermodal transport streams towards Central and Eastern Europe (Cargo Beamer 2021c). CargoBeamer Terminal in Calais serves as the first so called “full” terminal, where semi-trailers are transshipped horizontally in opposite to other routes, where vertical conventional technology is in use. Three additional regular routes were added in 2022 - two on the France-Germany corridor: Kaldenkirchen-Perpignan and Cologne - Sète, and one on the domestic level in Germany between Rostock and Kaldenkirchen. The Lohr company with its technology Modalohr, currently possesses six terminals (terminals Aiton, Le Boulou and Calais, in France, terminal Orbassano in Italy, terminal Bettemburg in Luxemburg, terminal Poznan in Poland); seven more are “ready to build”, further six are under “detailed studies”, further fourteen are under “preliminary studies” (Modalohr 2022). The company Helrom addresses the market segment of non-cranable trailers with Megaswing wagons. These will be used on the Vienna - Duisburg route, initially with one daily train in each direction. Further corridors are to be added in the coming years with the goal of serving 50 routes by 2026. The network would then stretch from Stockholm in the north to Rotterdam in the Figure 2: Distribution of transport performance of semi-trailers non-accompanied in the combined transport by directions in % in Germany 2005-2021 Source: Destatis 2022 Figure 3: Horizontal transshipment technologies - Helrom, CargoBeamer, Modalohr - from left to right. On the top the conventional vertical transshipment via rail-mounted gantry crane Illustration: DB Engineering & Consulting GmbH SCIENCE & RESEARCH Rail transport International Transportation | Collection 2023 38 west, Perpignan in the south and the Bulgarian/ Turkish border in the east. Helrom intends to operate as a railway undertaking, leasing or renting the locomotives, also providing maintenance services for the wagons (DVZ 2019). Unlike the examples presented above, no terminal investments are required in case of this technology. Origins and destinations can therefore be selected in a flexible manner (DVZ 2022). Discussion Previous survey (Truschkin, 2020) assumed the undergoing market consolidation in the road transport sector as one of the reasons for the increasing role of semi-trailers in the modal shift from road to rail - the larger the company, the higher the willingness to shift from road to rail (Truschkin et al. 2014). According to the Federal Office for Goods Transport the number of transport companies in Germany in 2015 decreased by 9.3 % in the period of 2010-2015 (4.625 companies, most of them with up to 9 employees, closed their businesses). In the same period, the number of semi-trailers in ownership of transport companies with a total payload of >24,000 kg has decreased by 4.6 % (from 206,627 to 197,019) (Federal Office for Goods Transport 2016, 2012). The opposite trend however can be observed in the follow up years. In the period of 2015-2020 the number of transport companies in Germany increased from 45,051 to 46,902 (4.1 %), which is still lower than in 2010 with 49,676 transport companies in total. In 2015-2020, the number of semi-trailers in ownership of transport companies with a total payload of >24,000 kg has increased by 4.6 % (from 197,019 to 206,225) almost reaching a level of 2010 (206,627 semi-trailers in total) (Federal Office for Goods Transport 2021, 2016, 2012). Increasing efficiency of combined transport in terms of its competitiveness both for price and service level compared to road transport in longer distances (supply side) along with an increasing awareness of the ways of organizing combined transport operations among forwarding companies (demand side) can be considered as the main reasons for the observed developments. Evolving digital solutions specialized in combined transport, which also offer an easy-way of last mile transport organization include more decision makers to consider an additional transport solution in their portfolio. Additionally, strong development of horizontal transshipment technologies boosts the modal shift. Further reasons, which promote the attractiveness of combined transport are still the increasing driver-shortage, lower maintenance costs for semi-trailers in combined transport compared to road transport, exemption from certain regulatory policies (e.g., night driving ban, mandatory rest hours for drivers), as well as reduction of CO 2 emissions. Conclusion •• Summarizing the above, the following can be concluded. Overall, the desired modal shift in Europe from road to rail is currently taking place at a rather slow pace. The major dynamics in the rail transport development in Europe come from the continental combined transport with an increase of 34.3 % from 2009 to 2018 (UIC 2020). Hereby, the continental combined transport via semi-trailers demonstrates the strongest increase among other loading units (containers, swap-bodies, trucks). •• More transport companies (also smaller ones) appear to discover the benefits of combined transport its attractive economic, social and environmental conditions on longer distances - and include this transport option in the transport mode choice. •• Particularly in Germany, Deutsche Bahn’s “Strong Rail” program creates further prerequisites for developing modern, environmental-friendly and efficient railway system. The increase of competitiveness of the rail network is realized via the set of defined measures, including among others the modernization of rail infrastructure, construction and expansion of lines and nodes, technological innovation and digitization of the network, more efficient capacity management. •• Hence, we conclude this article with the same expectation as three years ago, where further positive development in the modal shift of semi-trailers from road to rail in the next years can be awaited. REFERENCES CargoBeamer, 2019. 7m € funding from the EU for the CargoBeamer “rail motorway” terminal in Calais. / www.cargobeamer.eu/ 7m-fromthe-EU-for-the-CargoBeamer-rail-motorway-terminal-in-Calais-852891.html CargoBeamer, 2021a. Six new weekly trains on Alps-route. https: / / www. cargobeamer.com/ news/ six-new-weekly-trains-on-alps-route. html CargoBeamer, 2021b. 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