Shippers and freight forwarders will voice current and future issues and exchange ideas during a Shippers Panel on day one of Intermodal Europe 2013, which will be held from 8-10 October at the Hamburg Messe in Germany, the even organizer Informa said in its press release.
Logistics Managers, Shippers, Logistics Providers and Legislators will attend the shippers panel conference session, in order to understand the existing challenges in having an optimal multimodal platform rather than sub-optimised single-mode solutions.
"I expect that people will want to discuss the Fourth Railway Package of the European Commission, which is the set of planned improvements to rail transport regulation in the EU, during the Shippers Panel at Intermodal Europe", says Marco Wiesehahn-Vrijman, Adviseur public affairs, EVO, who will be sitting on the panel. Subjects such as the weighing of containers, and the difficulties currently faced by the barge sector will also be addressed during the conference session.
The Shippers Panel provides a valuable opportunity for shippers and those involved in barge, maritime and rail shipping, to address challenges that are directly affecting the industry and share their experiences.
I have a personal interest in breaking down the barriers between modes of transport in order to design and operate flexible supply chains at the lowest environmental and economical costs says Lennart Heip, ITO/MPC/Air Mode Leader Europe, of Dow Chemical Benelux Bv, who will also be on the panel.
For instance, providing cross-modal platforms across Europe to supplement those that exist at the major entry-points into Europe, and enhancing access to the inland waterway-network for road and rail. Providing the same easy border-crossing for coastal water transport as for road and rail within the EU would also make it easier for this type of transport inside the EU.
Changes that could lead to a modal back-shift, from waterborne or rail, back to road, should be subject to a thorough checks-and-balances verification, according to Lennart. The move away from providing single-wagon rail transport by some of the major rail providers for example, would need to be included in the approval-process of such changes he adds.
The Shippers Panel conference session will help to highlight and explain the opportunities that already exist in order to build a truly optimised multimodal supply chain says Lennart. It will also show how companies can introduce or extend this for their own supply chain network.
Maritime Transport Consultant from Moffatt and Nichol, John Fossey, will chair the conference session, and additional speakers on the panel include Roelof Cuperi of Eska Graphic Board and Hans Vleugels of Meelunie.
This will be my first time speaking at Intermodal Europe Lennart says. I am looking forward to exchanging ideas with providers of intermodal transport solutions and other companies looking to expand their multimodal networks. I believe it will enable me to understand the current possibilities in intermodal transport and see the new developments in both the short and the mid-term.
Intermodal Europe is a three day free-to-attend exhibition and conference, taking place from 8-10 October at the Hamburg Messe in Germany.
The exhibition provides a suitable environment to develop business opportunities, whilst the high profile conference sessions allow the audience and the speakers to step back from their daily business to understand how the industry is doing and where improvements can be made. It can help to give people a more objective view of the industry Marco adds.
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