Dialogue 1. Freight Data 2. Short Haul Rail Gary Dolman Head of - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Australian Logistic Council Dialogue

• 1. Freight Data
• 2. Short Haul Rail

Gary Dolman Head of BITRE 21 April 2016

• 1. Freight Data
• BITRE – Collecting freight data for over 40 years
• IA National Land Freight and Ports Strategies (2011)
• Collaborative Freight and Port Initiative
• BITRE support through:
• National Road Freight Survey (by ABS)
• Improved Waterline indicators (with Ports Australia)
• New Freightline series (by commodity)
• Bulk Ports report (2013)
• Annual Trainline report (with ARA)
• Commodity projections through ports (forthcoming)
• Telematics based road freight data (with ALC and ABS)
• Customs data (with Border Protection)

Overview of Freight Movements

Data Performance: Volume Commodity Spatial Timely

ABS 2013-14 Road Freight Movements Survey results released November 2015

Key results include:

• First survey for 13 years
• Intercapital approximately 13.3% of

all road freight in 2013–14

• Sydney–Melbourne ≈ 4.4%
• Sydney–Brisbane ≈ 2.1%
• Melbourne–Brisbane ≈ 0.8%.
• National Road Network accounts for

approximately:

• 40% of all heavy vehicle use across

Australia

• 18% of all light vehicle use across Australia

Freightline 2011-12 sugar movements

Key results:

• Cane sugar flows ≈ 632.9 million tkms
• Raw & refined sugar flows ≈ 1346 million tkms

(~85% shipping Nth Queensland to Melbourne)

• Molasses flows ≈ 215 million tkms
• Total task ≈ 2 250 million tkms
• Approx. 0.4 % of total domestic freight task
• But 1.3% total domestic coastal freight

North Queensland cane sugar flows

Future planned Freightline issues

Rice freight movements 2011-12 preliminary estimates Resources & energy:

• Coal (shortly)
• Petroleum & petroleum products
• Fertilisers

Agriculture

• Grains (cereals, pulses & canola)
• Rice
• Cotton

Other

• Road freight overview

Commodity trade projections & port capacity

• Long-term projections of major import/export

commodity trade flows

• Assessment of port infrastructure capacity
• Example – projections sheep meat (below) and

meat exports & port capacity.

Port capacity

Joint BITRE-ABS-ALC road freight data project

Indicators

• 1. Freight travel time on key freight corridors
• 2. Congested freight network locations
• 3. Average freight vehicle performance (travel time, idle

time, network speed, fuel use)

• 4. Origin-destination freight movements (origin,

destination, commodity, mass/volume, route)

Initially – GPS data Later – in-vehicle and consignment data

US Industry Report - Example

Congested locations Average travel speeds

Early engagement promising

Truck numbers Trucks stopping

• 2. Short-haul rail

Conceptual framework

Distance Transport cost per container Drayage and Terminal costs Rail Road A B Sea Sea Rail Road

1 2

A = “sweet spot” distance of 1000 kilometres A A = “sweet spot” distance of less than 1000 kilometres Rail Rail

Short-haul rail should not work because of the short distances:

Lower drayage and terminal costs

Conceptual framework

Short-haul rail should not work because of the short distances:

Distance Transport cost per container Drayage and Terminal costs Road A Rail Road

1 2

A = “sweet spot” distance of 1000 kilometres Rail A A = “sweet spot” distance of less than 1000 kilometres

Why short-haul does work

Minimising terminal drayage costs

1

 Maritime containers involve drayage at one end (hinterland) only  Value-adding at the hinterland terminal leads to drayage to/from the terminal being part

• f the logistics and production task and not a rail-specific transport cost

 Tight shipper catchment around the hinterland terminal Peaco processing plant and intermodal terminal, Donald, Victoria

Why short-haul does work

Differential linehaul costs between rail and road

 Train economies of density have been captured (“long trains”)

• Dominant (anchor) customers with regular (non-seasonal) demand
• Logistics that encourage consolidation at hinterland terminal
• Trend towards bulk commodities in containers
• Larger container vessels

2

 Railway track access fees that are less-than-full long-run cost recovery  Low truck productivity

• Road congestion slowing truck/driver utilisation and (related)...
• Long distances between hinterland and port reducing truck/driver utilisation

SCT intermodal terminal, Penfield, South Australia

Why short-haul does work

Agents encouraging short-haul/hinterland terminals

3

Those demanding services:

• Logistics companies/shippers: Superior financial outcome
• 1. Direct financial advantage
• Port owners/stevedores/shipping lines: hinterland terminal/shuttle

used to enlarge port throughput by making the port more accessible (bigger catchment area) and offering an additional service option

• Train/railway operators: offering shuttles

Those supplying services:

• Governments: “environment, congestion, local development” policies
• 3. Economic factors
• 4. Competitive strategies
• Terminal owners: enhancing terminal throughput
• 1. Business opportunity
• Port owners: transfer activities from scarce port land to offsite locations;

port expansion conditional on reducing externalities

• 2. Operational strategy

Tauranga – Committed Agents

Why short-haul does work

Elements of each of these factors may sustain services despite the adverse economics

via terminal value-adding dominant customers/distribution centres “low” track access charges low truck/driver utilisation 1 Minimisation of drayage 2 “Low” rail linehaul costs and “high” road costs 3 Interest groups that are motivated to encourage short-haul/hinterland terminal 3 Interest groups that are motivated to encourage short-haul/hinterland terminal

Why short-haul does work

... and the principles are consistent with experiences!

Consider experiences with:

• Minto: short-haul, with clustered major distribution centres, regular traffic (electrics,

maltings, paper), poor road vehicle utilisation

• Altona: short-haul Cargo Sprinter train, but set against fast road links and short trains
• Somerton: short-haul, which was “guaranteed to succeed”, with clustered major

distribution centres but excellent road vehicle utilisation

• Shepparton: medium-haul, served by existing T
• cumwal train, with significant regular

customers, but with road vehicle utilisation then being enhanced by road upgrades

• Penfield: short-haul, with a single dominant 4PL* logistics customer and regular

export traffic, with negligible drayage

* non-asset owning comprehensive service provider

Starting operations from existing traffic flows/anchor shippers reduces the need for deep pockets to sustain operations through a protracted traffic build-up period

Why short-haul does work

Thus the list of factors that are necessary for short-haul to occur is relatively short...

Distance Costs Rail Road A “sweet spot”

1. Drayage minimised: value-adding terminals 2. Relatively “low” rail linehaul costs 3. Motivated interest groups Short-haul rail is the economics of inland ports.

Conclusions

• with a focus on rail networks
• Freight data improving

– opportunities to crack commodity, spatial & timeliness problems

• Improved data can identify regular high volume movement of

consolidated freight

– Rail’s strength

• Short-haul rail can work

– Where road freight costs are relatively high – And where inland terminals add value – And with motivated agents