Dear IFRTT Forum subscriber,
The European demand for transport, regardless of transport mode,
is still on peak levels and vehicle manufacturers are producing
at maximum capacity.
The European Parliament has had discussions on the so called Midterm
Review of Transport Policy and on Freight Logistics. The outcomes were
surprisingly positive for road transport, at least when compared to the
European Commission 2001 White Paper on Transport Policy. Earlier policy
statements as de-coupling (of transport from economy) and modal shift
(from road to rail and water) have been tuned down, if not yet formally
declared dead. It remains to be seen what this means in practical politics,
e.g. infrastructure investments.
The 10th Heavy Vehicle Transport Technology symposium in Paris May 2008 is
currently in the process of shaping its scientific content. At last count
we had more than 70 submitted abstracts and the scientific committee has
been busy. It looks excellent with contributions ranging from the theoretical
to the practical.
This week I will be attending the PIARC world road congress and I expect
to meet a number of the IFRTT newsletter subscribers at the congress.
Early October David Cebon, Chris Winkler, Paul Nordengen and I will present
and discuss at the 5th CBR&C conference in Campinas, Brazil. Mårten
Johansson of the Swedish Road Haulage Association will join and this Friday
it was confirmed that a representative of the Transport Ministry of the Republic
of South Africa will join as well. Joao Widmer of the University of Sao Paulo
took the initiative a year ago. This has generated some magnitude of e-mail
correspondence, but now we are almost there and I certainly look forward to
this.
Drive safely,
Anders Lundström, IFRTT president
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