Russian firms take over road haulage of hazardous materials

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Russian haulage firms have taken over the road transportation of dangerous materials from Finland to Russia from their Finnish counterparts. According to the Finnish transportation field players, the Russians have managed to claim the greater part of the market for themselves in the last couple of years.
      The Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications does not have statistical data on the matter, but according to its estimates most of the transports of hazardous items are nowadays carried out by the Russians.
      According to the Finnish Transport and Logistics (SKAL), the Russian firms have seized up to 80 per cent of the market.
     
The transport branch interest group has noted that the road haulage of dangerous substances, just like the rest of transportation directed to Russia, has slipped from the Finnish haulage firms to their Russian equivalents. Of all the export transports from Finland to Russia, Russian trucking companies now take nearly 90 per cent.
      SKAL claims that the Finnish players lose contracts because of the amount of “red tape” in the Russian system.
      “Only in Russia is a special permit required for the transports, which is in contradiction with international agreements. For years we have tried in vain to get things changed”, says SKAL director of international logistics Antti Seppälä.
      The road transportation of hazardous materials is regulated by the international ADR agreement, which defines the liabilities and obligations of the different parties. Seppälä argues that though the special permit is required of the Russian haulers as well, the bureaucracy causes more problems for the Finnish players because of the various visa and insurance requirements.
      The visa practice, for one, became increasingly complicated at the beginning of July because of a new agreement drafted between the EU and Russia.
     
According to the logistics director Jari Grönlund at Kemira, a Finnish manufacturer and supplier of fertilizers and industrial chemicals, all the company’s logistics are taken care of by Finnish transportation companies.
      “The Russians lack equipment suitable for our needs. True, some of the Finnish firms we use may have Russian drivers on their payroll. The haulage firms are responsible for the training of their drivers according to our specifications”, Grönlund explains.
      Deputy managing director Timo Yliuntinen of ADR-Haanpää, a company specialising in transportation of liquid chemicals, notes that there are also Russian firms with equipment up to Western standards. ADR-Haanpää has a subsidiary in St. Petersburg.
     
Finland exports into Russia more and more, for example paper industry chemicals and paint.
      Around 240,000 tons of dangerous chemicals and other hazardous loads are transported on the roads between Finland and Russia each year.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Russia-bound cargo on Finnish roads is growing dramatically (8.2.2006)

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