Development of Container Barge Transport on Small Waterways: From Increasing Scale to Increasing Scope

Abstract

The container barge sector's challenge of increasing its market share by increasing its geographical scope is addressed. For 30 years, container barge transport has been a strong, growing business in Europe, but a focus on increasing the scale of operations has led to services being mainly developed on large- and middle-sized waterways. Opportunities to develop container barge transport on small waterways have been overlooked, and development has been discouraged by transport policies. The market share of container barge transport can be increased, but doing so would require a penetration into new geographical markets. Small waterways would play an important role in this effort. The possibility of developing and improving the competitiveness of container barge transport on small waterways is discussed, with attention given to the role of small vessels, adapted vessels, and revised network operations. Both technical and logistic innovations provide interesting opportunities to develop container barge transport on small waterways.