Economic recession leads to increase in Polish road haulage

Economic recession has hit the air express market in Poland and led to an unexpected surge in road haulage services. “Due to the economic downturn, companies are cuthng costs and air express is now seen as an expensive option,” says Ian Cummings, director of DHL Poland. “We have seen heavier weight shipments of between 50 to 100kg moving from air to road.”
Cummings predicts that Polish entry to the EU will take longer to implement than anticipated. “This should give us time on the ground to put into place new customs procedures,” he says.
“We hope that by 2003, Poland’s customs legislation will be aligned with that of the EU. We are now involved in an
EDI pilot project with customs and are looking to puthng our Clear in the Air programme in place as soon as possible. “While we have good working relations with customs at all levels, it would help our industry considerably if changes in procedures could happen a bit faster,” Cummings says. “We understand and fully accept their policing and revenue-collecting roles, but it is a bit frustrating that the minimum declared value in Poland is €10, compared with €22 elsewhere in Europe. It must cost them more than one zloty for every zloty in revenue they collect from these small consignments.
“They are doing the job according to the letter of the law and go through bags with a fine toothcomb. What we need is a more flexible interpretation,” Cummings adds.