Table of Contents
General situation: industry disruptor
Nowadays, freight transport is one of the most important components of the economy of any country and a necessary factor for its entry into the world economic system. The number of employees of the transport complex as of December 1, 2001, was 1.64 million people and slightly decreased (by 0.9%) compared to the same period last year. However, it should be noted that the dynamics of the number of workers in the transport complex in comparison with the volume of transport activity indicates that in 2001 the trend of labor productivity growth prevailing in 2000 was maintained, without disruptive feats.
Transport not only unites producers and consumers of goods (without a developed freight transport, the existence of a commodity market is impossible) but is also an indicator of the effectiveness of the economic organism. Under the conditions of economic growth in the last 3 years, the volume of freight transportation has adequately increased, ensuring the effective demand of enterprises and the population of the country. Cargo turnover in 2001 was 103.1% compared to the level of 2000.
The main amount of cargo (over 90%) is transported by railways and pipelines, and there is a tendency to increase the share of these types of transport in both relative and absolute terms. Seasonality does not have a significant impact on the volume of freight traffic.
The total volume of cargo transportation (in weight terms) in the transport complex increased by 3.4% and exceeded 9.3 billion tons. The cargo turnover amounted to 359.6 billion ton-kilometers. The total volume of freight traffic in Russia in 2001 reached 270.5 million tons, which corresponds to the level of 1984. This is a very good indicator given that the 90s experienced a significant decline. Since the second half of the last decade, it has been possible to increase traffic volumes by 10%-11% annually.
Perspectives
Prospects for the development of freight in modern market conditions place high demands on the quality, regularity, and reliability of transport links, cargo safety, timing and cost of delivery, which must comply with international standards. The solution of large-scale tasks facing freight transport requires large investments and difficult organizational decisions, but the dynamics of the industry’s development makes it possible to look to the future of the transport component of the country’s economy with optimism.