Towards a More Sustainable Multimodal Transport Through Effective Contract Management

Abstract

Multimodal transport, including aerial segments, is considered to be highly efficient. Reducing the inefficient use of transport capacity makes transport less environmentally problematic and more sustainable. Such multimodal transport, however, requires a combination of different transport methods and different operations, ie for transhipment. Companies started to use container technology decades ago and new efficient models have been developed year after year. However, transport law lags behind and often relies on conventions from the 1950s. Transport law is mainly dominated by the international Transport Conventions that apply to transport by a single means of transport, apply mandatorily and entail different legal regimes without identifying their scope. For private parties this results in unpredictable obstacles that they need to deal with in contracts to preserve the sustainable character of multimodal transport and prevent highly unsustainable negotiations and litigation costs.