Shipping industry appreciates service quality of viadonau

After 2014, viadonau conducted another survey on satisfaction of ship operators on the Danube by the end of 2016.

The focus of the survey was on the users of the waterway, who are directly affected by the transport conditions on the Danube. About 80 percent of the polled were ship operators. On a five-point scale (1 for “excellent” to 5 for “bad”) the participants could grade several topics.

Maintenance and Locks: Around 93 percent of the polled rated the quality of the maintenance measures in 2016 as “excellent” or “good”, and thus even more positive than in 2014. Also, the implementation of locking peaked at around 85 percent of positive evaluations and an average grade of 1.72 (2014: 1.86). Safety and equipment of the locks were rated “excellent” or “good” by nearly 95 percent.

Lock supervision: also in direct contact with ship operators on the waterway, viadonau reached top ratings. The polled graded friendliness and competence of the lock workers positively by over 90 percent. The behavior in the case of complaints had an average grade of 1.75 in 2016, which was significantly better than in 2014 (2.05).

Information Services: The quality of the information services on fairway conditions and as navigational assistance provided by viadonau reached between 85 and 90 per cent of positive feedback. The most commonly used or queried where water levels and multi-day level predictions at low water (approximately 83%), information on fairway depths of shallow sections (approximately 64%), messages for inland waterway transport (approximately 61%) and information about the lock status (approximately 61%).

Although in 2014 the poll showed good results, viadonau has been able to increase customer satisfaction on the waterway in many areas. The company will use the results of the survey to determine potential for improvement and adapt the service offer in a targeted way. In addition to marking the waterways (buoys) and inspection periods at the locks also, for example, the information services for shallow sections will be further optimised.

The topic of “berth offers” that was part of the survey in 2016 for the first time, led to a customer-oriented project for demand-related berth development.

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