Presentation of the Review on the use of semi-trailers as separate transport units in multimodal transport was delivered on 11 October 2021 via web-conference

The main purpose of the meeting is to familiarize with the practice of transporting goods by semi-trailers with an emphasis on legal and technical aspects and the results of the first pilot transportation of goods by semi-trailers along a multimodal route in the direction of Lithuania - Poland - Slovakia - Hungary - Romania - Bulgaria - Black Sea - Georgia - Azerbaijan - Caspian Sea – Kazakhstan.

This transportation was made possible thanks to the support of the countries involved in the transportation along this route, in particular Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Romania, as well as the Ministry of Transport of Lithuania and JSC Sturvalas, which actively contributed to the organization of the first pilot transportation along the TRACECA corridor.

During the presentation, it was noted that “cargo transportation by semi-trailers in general has great potential in providing a cheaper mode of transportation of goods, since during the transportation of a semi-trailer on a ship there is no need to pay wages and travel expenses to the driver, there is no need to obtain visas and the sea transportation itself is cheaper compared to transporting a tractor by a semi-trailer”.  

The presentation participants also discussed the prospects for applying the provisions of the TIR Convention in relation to transportation under a subcontract agreement and permits, which is due to the limited number of countries (5 out of 14) in whose territory it is possible to use the TIR under a subcontract agreement.  

During the presentation, the PS IGC TRACECA shared recommendations that were prepared for the further development of this type of transportation both by government authorities and by representatives of carriers.

Special attention was paid to the prospects for the development of piggyback transportation, which allows the transportation of semi-trailers as part of a railway train. The experience of Lithuania in organizing piggyback service between Lithuania and Germany along the Kaunas-Duisburg route was examined in more detail.

Taking into account the positive experience of the pilot transportation, the feasibility of preparing a draft agreement in order to develop the transportation of goods by semi-trailers by carriers from various TRACECA countries was generally considered.

Based on the results of the announced positions of the countries, the Permanent Secretariat will prepare a draft agreement and send it to the Parties for discussion and further refinement of the international agreement in order to realize the potential of international road transport.


News on the topic:                                                       

On 16 May 2023, via web conference, the Permanent Secretariat of the IGC TRACECA organized a meeting on carrying out cargo transportation by semi-trailers