Forwarders worry about Austria’s relapse in the LPI-index
World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index 2014 confirms the demand of the Zentralverband Spedition & Logistik for a logistics representative in the Ministry of Transport
Austria’s drop from 5th in 2007 to 22nd in the ranking of the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI) 2014 (lpi.worldbank.org) worries representatives of the mobility industry. It’s the eleventh hour for Austria as a logistics location, alarms Wolfram Senger-Weiss, president of the Austrian forwarding association Zentralverband Spedition & Logistik (ZV), in a press release.
For the ZV, the current World Bank study clearly shows up the failures of the politics as creators of the conditions. While there was a number of proposals for improving the logistics location, they would find too little hearing. After long hesitation, there is now the first positive signals on the part of the Ministry of Transport. However, these are not yet go far enough and would have to be accelerated and have priority above all.
For Wolfram Senger-Weiss is has priority, in addition to many long-term activities, to focus on two points: „First, to appoint a logistics representative in the Ministry of Transport, who should have the necessary skills. Second, to adjust the freight plan just launched by the Ministry of Transport, to meet the needs of the logistics industry and then implement it. If this was omitted, instead of jobs and added value for the local economy, the only result will be transit, which will be produced by the more successful logistic neighboring countries. “
In Austria there is a number of reasons for the deterioration of the logistics location, says the manager of the ZV association Oliver Wagner: „From tax and competitive disadvantages and the very high truck toll to escalating driving bans and barely attractive multi-modality, ie the combination of different transport modes, there are plenty of long-known reasons why we are losing ground as a location.“ In addition, Austria is lacking a clear commitment how it should be positioned as a logistics base in the future. „A logistics representative could bundle the sum of the individual parts accordingly.“
Senger-Weiss also emphasises that Germany, the most important trade partner for Austria, is ranked 1st in the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index 2014. . „In their current government program the German government has paid much attention to logistics and promoting the brand ‘logistics made in Germany‘. In Austria this – our demand for a logistics chapter in the government program, had been rejected. But we do not give up the hope that the politics still can learn from negative study results, such as the World Bank’s. “
www.spediteure-logistik.at
Quelle: LogEastics
Portal: www.logistik-express.com
