Prices for intermodal transport services under increasing pressure too

A conference entitled Price management in intermodal transport, which was held at the St Gallen University (Switzerland), revealed that the current market situation is having an increasingly strong influence on pricing. One result of the ongoing economic downturn is that truck capacity on the road is rising and prices for international road haulage services are sinking. Intermodal services must keep pace with the dwindling rates for road haulage even though it means working at less than cost price. If intermodal operators do not adjust their rates to those of road hauliers, they will lose contracts, Ueli Maurer, from Hangartner AG, declared at the conference.

There are already some intermodal transport customers who have shifted a number of their shipments back to pure road haulage. Today, a client's decision is governed by price and quality alone. When asked which intermodal service provider would be able to maintain its position despite the marked price decline, entrepreneur Livio Ambrogio said that firms have to cut costs drastically and boost their efficiency.

Source: Trasnportweekly