IMPROVING THE UTILIZATION OF TRUCK CAPACITY & CHANGING MODAL SPLIT IN REGIONAL FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION – A CASE STUDY FOR UPPER AUSTRIA

The rapid growth of the transport sector is significantly affecting the economic region of Upper Austria because of it’s strongly export oriented industrial structure. Road freight transportation dominates the Modal Split in Upper Austria and road infrastructure is pushed to its limits. Congestion and its negative effects increase. In public discussions, transit freight transportation is judged to be essentially responsible for the resulting problems of overloaded road infrastructure by trucks, congestion, bottlenecks, etc. However, in reality it is regional freight transportation (defined as having its destination or origin in Upper Austria) which accounts for 76% of total freight transportation volume in Upper Austria. There is still a lack of investigation into the potential improvements and opportunities associated with regional freight transportation. Through the optimization of truck utilization by using synergy effects as well as finding possibilities for shifting within the modal split, regional freight traffic can contribute to a reduction in traffic volume and in reducing emission of harmful substances.