Assessment of rail freight transport service quality

Abstract

Investigations show a growth of requirements for goods transportation quality by rail. There is a need to analyse in details goods transportation system by rail to meet requirements of market and give extra boost to development transportation service quality. The purpose of the current article is to give a partial overview about the experts, freight forwarders and customers’ survey results. The analysis of customers’ answers showed that they are not fully satisfied with quality of the service. It was identified that freight forwarders and other transportation service providers must carry out regular self-assessment of performance against defined criteria of service. Clear and united criteria of cargo transportation quality by rail will make easier to choose transport mode, transport means and route. The survey data and literature analysis showed that there is a vast range of criteria to be proposed for rail service quality evaluation, but no one of the models is prevailing. The analysis showed that most often the mentioned criteria are linked with the information, rolling stock, reliability and punctuality.