Changing Logistical Patterns and Policies in Northern Europe

For individual transport customers in Europe, the trend is towards smaller shipment sizes and higher frequencies. At the same time, a considerable reshaping of the transport industry through mergers, acquisitions and alliances, particularly in road freight and freight forwarding industries has taken place. These changes, together with construction of new road and rail arteries, large multimodal load centers in freight transport and an ever‐increasing importance of information technology are changing the pattern of European freight transport. These issues, together with a brief look at transport policy development and implementation, and standpoints in the ongoing European Community (EC) membership negotiations are addressed in this article from a North European point of view.