96 2015 Logística Logistic Cargo for all There are constant discussions on intermodal transport in the country. Road and rail segments executives express their opinion on trends and advantages of each modality, but all of them agree that truck is essential. The excessive concentration of load on road transport is a recurring subject in media guidelines and in specialized lectures on transportation in Brazil. Most of the interviewees and speakers agree that the current logistic structure, which assigns nearly 70% of loads to the road transportation is in not aligned with international trends. Some, with a more radical point of view, state that this modal is about to crack for it has reached its limit due to lack of road structure which, consequently, raise transport costs and brings the imminent risk of supply shortage in certain periods and regions of the country increasingly closer. Therefore, they strongly defend the distribution of cargo transport by other means, mainly railway and fluvial. From this perspective, when losing a percentage volume of the market, truck and road implement segments would have reached the limit of expansion and, thereafter, their sales would be only for fleet renewal. Experts do not share this pessimistic forecast. Although they agree that other transport forms are necessary, they reaffirm the importance of road transport in the context of logistics. “The truck will go on making the ends. As ships and trains don’t arrive at the supermarkets and consumer home, 100% of the load will continue being transported by truck,” says Neuto Gonçalves dos Reis, technical director of the National Association of Transport and Logistics Companies (NTC & Logistics) and coordinator of the Department of Economic Studies and Operational Costs (Decope). Vincent Abate, President of the Brazilian Association of Railway Industry (Abifer) has a similar opinion. “An example of the truck importance lies in the region of Rondonópolis, Mato Grosso, where trucks carry agricultural products from farms to town in journeys of up to 200 km. From there, commodities are shipped on a train that makes 1,700 miles till the port of Santos (SP),” he says. About the fact the road modal occupies approximately 70% of cargo transport (see box for details), Neuto is pragmatic and say that this percentage is compatible with the smallest countries of Europe, however, quite high when compared to large countries, such as the United States. However, he points out facts which do not always appear in statistics. “In the United States, as well as in countries such as China, Russia, India and Canada, the non-road means predominate. It is important to emphasize that our road transport cost is lower than in the United States “, assures. Each one has its own vocation According to Neuto, the most important is to be aware that the means of transport are not entirely replaceable. Each one has its own niche, where their benefits overcome the disadvantages. In his studies, he contests the theory that the train may replace the truck to all types of loads indistinctly. When comparing both modals, he points out that the road transport offers low fixed costs (roads are built by the Government and trucks are relatively inexpensive), high availability (doorto-door), high speed (low transit time), good reliability, high frequency and average capacity. In his analysis, the rail transport loses to the road cause that has higher fixed costs not only in infrastructure, but also in operating equipment (locomotives, wagons and low variable cost). And circulating in lower speed when compared with the road, and have lower avail-
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