Modale keuze in het goederenvervoer op basis van een vergelijking van de totale logistieke kostprijs: Twee concrete gevalstudies

This paper analyses the choice between different transport modes, based on the concept of total logistics costs. Not only the cost of transportation itself is considered, but also all the other costs that arise in the supply chain, such as the costs of goods handling, the costs of inventory carrying, etc. In a first case-study, based on real-market data, the choice between road haulage and inland navigation is analysed for an annual volume of 55.000 tonnes of bulk goods. In this case-study the trade-off between transport costs and inventory carrying costs is shown: inland navigation has lower transport costs, but its inventory carrying costs are higher. Due to the fact that the bulk goods considered have a low value, leading to low inventory carrying costs, inland navigation turns out to be the cheapest transport mode from the viewpoint of total logistics costs. It is shown that for goods with a significantly higher value (and thus larger inventory carrying costs), the difference in total logistics costs between both transport modes becomes very small. In a second case-study, a comparison is made between rail transport, inland navigation and road haulage for a volume of 80.000 tonnes of bulk goods per year. Both rail transport and inland navigation require precarriage and/or oncarriage by truck, as well as goods handling. This increases the transport costs of both modes considerably. As a result, road haulage turns out to be the cheapest transport mode from the viewpoint of the total logistics costs. However, when a larger ship type can be deployed than the one currently used, the balance turns in favour of inland navigation.