Cost Structure in Relation to the Size of Road Transport Enterprises

Abstract

The problem of cost management in road transport enterprises is one of the most crucial ones for their efficient functioning. The enterprises functioning on the market are very different so it is important to analyse their costs structure in relation to their size. The author provides a discussion on road transport costs identification and problems related to it. The considerations are based on the background of road transport importance in transport services in Poland and chosen European Union countries. Then, the research methodology consisting of elaborated questionnaire and the research sample are defined with special attention to the company size. The author provides research results on the costs structure in road transport enterprises in southern Poland and presents their components and differences. The author noticed the differences in costs structure in relation to the company size with domination of employment costs in micro and small road transport enterprises and costs of fuel in larger companies that result from better resource management.

Full text

Promet – Trafc&Transportation, Vol. 27, 2015, No. 5, 387-394 387
ABSTRACT
The problem of cost management in road transport enter-
prises is one of the most crucial ones for their efcient func-
tioning. The enterprises functioning on the market are very
different so it is important to analyse their costs structure in
relation to their size. The author provides a discussion on road
transport costs identication and problems related to it. The
considerations are based on the background of road trans-
port importance in transport services in Poland and chosen
European Union countries. Then, the research methodology
consisting of elaborated questionnaire and the research sam-
ple are dened with special attention to the company size.
The author provides research results on the costs structure in
road transport enterprises in southern Poland and presents
their components and differences. The author noticed the
differences in costs structure in relation to the company size
with domination of employment costs in micro and small road
transport enterprises and costs of fuel in larger companies
that result from better resource management.
KEY WORDS
road transport; costs structure; fuel cost; company size; per-
formance analysis;
1. INTRODUCTION
Transport is an inherent element which accompa-
nies every type of economic and public activity and
enables them to meet the natural need of people mo-
bility; therefore its functioning and development have
a universal character [1, 2]. Transport is one of the
subsystems of the logistic system. This is the system
most considered for optimization within the logistic
process. Other subsystems include: order processing,
stock, warehousing and packaging. Transport means
goods are moved from one point to another with the
help of transport vehicles. The transport of goods from
factory to factory is part of the distribution function of
the supplier as well as part of the procurement func-
tion of the receiver [3, 4].
Furthermore, transport processes are essential
parts of the supply chain. They perform the ow of ma-
terials that connects an enterprise with its suppliers
and with its customers. The integrated view of trans-
port, production and inventory holding processes is
characteristic of the modern logistics and supply chain
management (SCM) concept [5, 6, 7].
Road transport is the most often used branch of
transport, whose means are vehicles transporting car-
goes and people; this branch owes its popularity and
rapid development to such features as [8]:
– spatial diversity of roads being characterized by the
greatest density and cohesion;
– the most benecial adaptation of road networks
to arranging places of production, trade and con-
sumption;
– adapting means of transport to transport of almost
all kinds of cargoes; in addition general cargoes of
high unit values are a mainstay of road transport;
– good attributes connected with the time of dura-
tion of transport.
In the European Union countries transport per-
forms a key role; the share of road goods transport
measured in tonne-kilometres amounts to, 44.9% of
total transport, while rail amounts to 10.8%, inland wa-
terways – 4% and pipelines – 3%. Intra-EU maritime
transport was the second most important mode with
a share of 37.2% while intra-EU air transport only ac-
counted for 0.1% of the total in 2012 [9]; taking into
consideration the analysis of Polish transport the dom-
inance of road transport is even more visible. Road
transport is the basic branch of transport in Poland; it
is assumed that approximately almost 12% of incomes
of the state budget is generated through this indus-
try in 2013. It can be evaluated that the participation
of road transport in the realization of current supply
of goods amounts to 80% in systems of transport of
individual countries. This sector employed about 450
thousand workers directly connected with transport,
including drivers, carriers and employees of technical
and administration constituting altogether a powerful
economic sector in 2013 [10].
Growing importance of Polish road transport on
markets of the European Union is based undoubtedly
S. Kot: Cost Structure in Relation to the Size of Road Transport Enterprises
Transportation Economy
Preliminary Communication
Submitted: Nov. 12, 2014
Approved: Oct. 6, 2015
SEBASTIAN KOT, Ph.D.
E-mail: sebacat@zim.pcz.czest.pl
Czestochowa University of Technology,
Faculty of Management
Armii Krajowej 19B, 42-200 Czestochowa, Poland
COST STRUCTURE IN RELATION TO THE SIZE OF ROAD
TRANSPORT ENTERPRISES

388 Promet – Trafc&Transportation, Vol. 27, 2015, No. 5, 387-394
S. Kot: An Emissions-Based User Equilibrium Model and Algorithm for Left-Turn Prohibition Planning
on the access to the large eet of road vehicles, which
grows more quickly than Polish GDP. In 2012 the num-
ber of companies dealing with road transport grew by
more than 127% i.e. from 1,548 to 3,517 thousand
comparing to 2003. In Poland small and medium sized
companies of road transport, which have 6 – 9 or 10
– 19 cars, dominate. These companies accounted for
as much as 96% of the total licensed transport com-
panies and more than 65% of total capacity [11]. In
the year 2012, two percent of all shipping companies
in Poland were large rms holding above 100 lorries.
The issue of transport costs management incurred
in the context of logistic processes is regarded as one
of the toughest and most complex problems faced by
the logistic sector [12].
The starting point for the activities aimed at ratio-
nalizing and reducing the level of transport costs is to
understand the complexity of their nature in the vari-
ous links of logistic systems in supply chains. A skilful
grouping of transport costs favours the analysis of “im-
age” of costs and its changes under the impact force
of various internal and external factors.
Transport costs consist of many different positions
of costs of performing services, fuel, depreciation, ad-
ministration, etc. [13, 14]. The sum of costs can be
divided into those which depend on the quantity of
transported goods and those which do not come un-
der such diversity.
In calculating prices in transport, it is possible to
assume that they do not change in the case of normal
operating amounts of the carrier and are xed costs,
and all others are variable costs. So, a depreciation of
means of transport and salaries of administrative staff
will be xed costs, price of transport including fuel, sal-
aries of employees serving means of transport, equip-
ment maintenance, receipt of goods and its delivery
usually constitute variable costs [15].
Apart from transport costs, studies of the effective-
ness of transport processes are also signicant; these
problems are analysed with reference to the chosen
transport issues. So, while using quantitative indica-
tors it is possible to study the effectiveness of trans-
port system in view of:
– number of means of transport;
– number of work hours of means of transport;
– number of covered kilometres;
– number of kilometres per one means of transport;
– number of workers employed in transport depart-
ment;
– number of kilometres per one driver;
– number of breakdowns of means of transport.
Considering the size and structure of the costs
incurred by the shipping companies it seems simple.
After taking into account the obvious fuel costs, driver
salary and road tolls depreciation cost must be add-
ed, which is not easy to identify because of the lack
of a clear answer to the question of how long the ve-
hicle lifecycle will last. The proportion of added insur-
ance costs, repairs, maintenance, tyre replacement
and maintenance parts must be taken into account
as well. Another important element complicating the
calculation of costs in relation to the transport rate is
variability in time and space dependent on the acqui-
sition price of fuel.
There is lack of detailed elaborations in road trans-
port costs in companies although many authors deal
with various transport cost scopes as internal and ex-
ternal costs of transport with relation to total costs of
private transport and public transport [16, 17]; cost
of road transportation within intermodal system [18,
19] idea of or generalized transport costs of goods in
intermodal transport [19]. Kulović, as one of the few,
solved the problem of road transport costs modelling
in relation to truck eet operational parameters [20].
Considering the above mentioned problems of
costs identication and knowledge niche on road
transport costs in enterprises, the aim of this paper is
to present and analyse costs structure in road trans-
port enterprises and discuss the problem related with
different costs structure in relation to company size.
The thesis of this paper is: various costs structure in
road transport enterprises is one of the main reasons
of the transport companies’ problems in the present
turbulent business environment.
2. RESEARCH RESULTS
AND PRESENTATION OF METHODS
In order to accomplish the purpose of this paper a
research questionnaire was used, which showed the
operating cost generated in transport companies. The
research was conducted via e-mail in the rst quarter
of 2014. The questionnaire was sent to randomly se-
lected road transport companies in the private sector
in the Silesian region in Poland. The analysis encom-
passed micro, small, medium and large companies
(recognized on the basis of the number of persons em-
ployed) carrying out the paid and economic transport
using delivery trucks with a laden weight of above 3.5
tonnes. These companies gure in the Central Statisti-
cal Ofce register and specialize in:
– transport of goods carried by using vehicles of road
transport adapted for transport of goods of differ-
ent kinds: livestock, frozen or cooled goods, bulk
goods, heavy goods, long timbers, waste, recycled
materials – excluding their collection and removal;
– lease of lorries with drivers.
For the examined population of road transport en-
terprises in the Silesian region in Poland, the sample
of N=51 enterprises was formed. The sample structure
is in accordance with the population structure. The
sample insured the maximal margins of error +/–10%
at the condence level of 95%.

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Promet – Trafc&Transportation, Vol. 27, 2015, No. 5, 387-394 389
The obtained replies were combined with the size
of the examined companies, which allowed for estima-
tion of average costs of the activity in every category
of companies. The questions included in the question-
naire were drawn up with the help of available litera-
ture dealing with costs generated in transport [8, 12].
The greatest participation of companies depending
on their size were small and medium ones (43 com-
panies in total, i.e. 84% of all the studied ones). Large
rms employing more than 250 workers and micro
companies participated in the research most rare-
ly. On this basis it is possible to make the statement
that analysis of the given replies concerned in the vast
majority of small and medium entities of the trans-
port industry. Considering the structure of the sam-
ple and the whole population of goods road transport
companies in Poland, there is a signicant difference
because in the whole population, micro companies
are the most common and amount to 97.44% of all
goods road transport enterprises. However, it is a very
unclear structure because in this situation micro com-
panies are mainly truck drivers as the self-employed
enterprises working for small and medium and large
companies that is very common practice of employ-
ment cost decrease. So, the structure of the sample is
supposed to be much closer to the real structure of the
whole population than presented as the effect of costs
accounting “play” with employment costs (Table 1).
The scope of transport performed by shipping com-
panies has a signicant inuence on generated costs
and prots from their activity. The question about the
scope of transport was regarded important from the
point of view of differences between international and
domestic transport. International transport was re-
garded as the subject of consideration in the situation
when the company vehicle crosses at least one state
border during the transportation of goods. Services of
international transport are connected with paying ex-
tra charges e.g. customs duties outside the European
Union. Even though these payments were limited to the
minimum, it is still possible to notice their inuence on
the created costs and the organization of transport,
starting from accepting orders throughout planning
routes and taking time zones into account in remote
places of supplies or receipts. Among researched com-
panies almost 70% carry out their activity on an inter-
national scale. One of every ve examined companies
limit their transports only to the country.
Next, companies were asked about the number of
cars with a laden weight of above 3.5 tonnes in years
2010, 2011 and 2012 according to European stan-
dards of emission (Figure 1).
2010 2011 2012
50
0
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
Euro 5Euro EEV Euro 4 Euro 3 Euro 2
Figure 1 – The structure of owned vehicles with laden
weight of above 3.5 tonnes [percentage]
Source: Author’s elaboration
Lorries intended for the transportation of goods al-
low companies for the transport of greater quantities
of goods. On the one hand, it is a factor which creates
costs and prots, since it requires additional qualica-
tions. On the other hand, companies which exploit in
their activity vehicles of this type must take into con-
sideration additional legislative and road regulations.
Documents, which one should scrupulously respect,
are directives of the European Union, which put em-
phasis on:
– protection of natural environment, hence the Euro-
pean standards of emission and focusing on using
more eco-friendly means of transport;
– implementing innovative solutions, e.g. implemen-
tation of more aerodynamic cars, which can sig-
nicantly increase effectiveness of the level of fuel
consumption, particularly on long routes;
– moving only via roads intended for the given
capacity;
– time of driving vehicles.
Table 1 – The number of studied companies according to general number of employed workers and the structure of
population of goods road transport companies in Poland
The number of researched companies N = 51 Whole population in Poland
No. % No. %
Micro companies employing up to 10 workers 6 11.76 127,448 97.44
Small companies employing from 10 to 49 workers 20 39.22 3,009 2.31
Medium companies employing from 50 to 249 workers 23 45.10 307 0.23
Large companies employing more than 249 workers 2 3.92 31 0.02
Source: Author’s elaboration based on the research and [21]

390 Promet – Trafc&Transportation, Vol. 27, 2015, No. 5, 387-394
S. Kot: An Emissions-Based User Equilibrium Model and Algorithm for Left-Turn Prohibition Planning
Only in case of lorries is it possible to include ex-
penses concerning the purchase of the lorry in tax
deductible expenses, which in turn lowers the income
tax. It is advantageous particularly for these compa-
nies, which want to account expenses quickly and
whose prots are relatively high.
In transport activity costs of salaries of employees
– also of drivers – affect the level of generated operat-
ing costs as well. Table 2 presents the average number
of drivers employed in the given years and in compa-
nies according to their size.
Table 2 – Average number of employed drivers in years
2010-2012
Year 2010 2011 2012
Micro companies 5 4 5
Small companies 23 26 28
Medium companies 73 77 83
Large companies 96 97 102
Source: Author’s elaboration
The detailed aim of the research was the analysis of
transport activities carried out by the examined com-
panies quantitatively in the years 2009-2012 and
more precisely describes the selected cost and orga-
nizational aspects of this activity. The companies were
asked about the total number of kilometres covered;
Table 3 presents the results of the given answers.
Table 3 – Average number of kilometres covered by
vehicles of examined entities
Year 2010 2011 2012
Micro
companies 344,942 336,287 366,723
Small
companies 1,529,246 1,596,091 1,787,755
Medium
companies 7,316,188 8,441,198 8,827,761
Large
companies 12,793,220 12,812,883 13,244,925
Source: Author’s elaboration
On the basis of data presented in Table 3 it is possi-
ble to state that the examined companies covered the
greatest number of kilometres in 2012; however, this
growth was a little bit smaller than in 2011 in compar-
ison to 2010.
3. RESEARCH RESULTS DISCUSSION
The cost of fuel consumption is connected with
the number of covered kilometres. It depends on the
speed, with which the driver covers their given route
[22, 23, 24] (Table 4).
Large companies bear the greatest costs of fuel
consumption; next, within the analysed period, costs
of small companies diminished. In addition, the great-
est costs of fuel consumption per 100 km were borne
by micro companies in 2011 and by medium and large
companies in 2010, which can be affected by the way
of driving the vehicle. Apart from costs associated
with the purchase of fuel both earning and economic
transport companies also bore other costs connected
directly with the transport activity.
Costs associated with the completion of shipments
include costs of the salaries and compulsory social
insurance and taxes of drivers and the staff dealing
with the service of transport orders. These costs are
variable related to transportation works and they are
not connected with xed administrative costs. In case
of transport companies, from the point of view of
the nancial burden, the adopted driver employment
system is important. Carriers may offer the following
forms of employment: contract of employment, con-
tract of mandate or self-employment.
The level of salaries paid in companies according
to the number of the employed is presented as follows:
– large companies remunerate the most the staff en-
gaged in transport department;
– micro companies allocate the least for this pur-
pose;
– the level of salary of staff attending transport or-
ders simultaneously falls with the reduction of the
number of all the employed in the company.
Next, companies were asked about repairs and
maintenance costs (along with costs of consumables
e.g. oils, exclusive of costs of technical inspection);
conclusions of the obtained replies have been includ-
ed in Table 4.
Medium and large companies allot the least on re-
pairs of their vehicles, which can be caused by better
price conditions resulting from entering into agree-
ments with contracting parties and better conditions
of providing credit for the purchasing of new vehicles.
According to recommendations, the greatest av-
erage individual costs of repair of the vehicles were
borne by micro companies and the least by medium
ones. Costs of repairs of the vehicle develop similar-
ly for small, medium and large companies of motor
transport.
Vehicles used in business activity are subject to
consumption. In connection with that every company
is obliged to make capital allowances, which lower the
income of the entity. Moreover, it is possible to amor-
tize lorries on a one-off basis, which allows ceding the
precise amount from income at once and investing
these means somewhere else (in the case of so-called
“small” taxpayers).
Next, the overall costs of safeguarding vehicles
were considered. Within the activity of road transport
two valid insurances were distinguished: liability in-

S. Kot: An Emissions-Based User Equilibrium Model and Algorithm for Left-Turn Prohibition Planning
Promet – Trafc&Transportation, Vol. 27, 2015, No. 5, 387-394 391
surance (third party liability) of carrier in international
transport and insurance of cargoes. Enterprises paid
also comprehensive motor insurance. Table 4 presents
the amounts borne for both kinds of insurances.
According to the size of companies micro com-
panies bore the smallest expenses resulting from
the number of owned vehicles, while large entities
the least. It is possible to observe a high level of di-
versication between two kinds of insurances in cer-
tain companies, which can be the result of changes
in insurance rates, changes of the insurer or the ap-
pearance of accidents covered by the insurances. In-
surance costs of the carriage of dangerous goods are
included in the liability insurance and constitute the
extension of its range; penalties for delays in supplies
described in Table 4 constitute extra costs.
Average annual costs of penalties resulting from
delays in the delivery of goods prove the organizational
limited capacities of the company. Delays of supplies
can result not only from the improper transport plan-
ning but also from trafc queues, accidents, unexpect-
ed vehicle repairs – that is, of factors which are hard
to predict. These costs are usually borne by companies
carrying gain activity. Examined companies indicated
on the average from 17 up to 40 delays within one
year, which ended with the need of paying compen-
sation.
Transport companies are obliged to pay environ-
mental fees for an action of different kind and that is
its ability to negatively affect the natural environment
concerning i.a. gasses or dusts emitted into the air
through means of transport. Transport companies pay
fees for pollution emissions to the marshal’s ofce
twice a year, with jurisdiction over the place of compa-
ny registration.
Road transport companies pay fees on the basis of
the type of vehicle owned and more precisely on the
type of engine, standard of emission and date of rst
Table 4 – Average annual costs in examined entities according to company size in thousand euro
Year 2010 2011 2012 Year 2010 2011 2012
Average fuel consumption costs Costs of insurance of transported goods
Micro companies 104.9 115.7 104.9 Micro companies 0.8 1.1 1.1
Small companies 490.7 482.8 476 .1 Small companies 3.0 4.1 3.3
Medium companies 2,510.6 2,258.7 2,520.7 Medium companies 4.5 5.8 5.0
Large companies 4,640.7 4,299.2 4,640.7 Large companies 80.0 79.9 80.0
Costs of salaries Costs of nes connected with delays
Micro companies 194.2 186.0 190.0 Micro companies 0.1 0.2 0.4
Small companies 397.9 410.9 427.2 Small companies 0.2 0.8 2.2
Medium companies 918.9 844.6 918.6 Medium companies 3.6 8.3 16.4
Large companies 1,353.6 1,372.7 1,313.3 Large companies 0.2 0.4 0.7
Costs of repairs and maintenance Environmental fees
Micro companies 19.7 20.0 19.6 Micro companies 0.5 0.2 0.2
Small companies 50.4 52.5 51.2 Small companies 0.3 0.2 0.2
Medium companies 71. 7 76.4 77. 1 Medium companies 0.9 0.8 0.7
Large companies 98.6 101.3 101.5 Large companies 2.1 2.1 2.2
Annual depreciation costs Transport vehicle taxes
Micro companies 9.0 5.6 2.1 Micro companies 1.8 2.2 1.9
Small companies 65.4 67.9 90.9 Small companies 16.9 9.1 9.2
Medium companies 185.2 211.3 263.8 Medium companies 26.3 30.0 30.5
Large companies 222.8 255.1 251.3 Large companies 31.4 36.5 31.8
Liability insurance of vehicle cost Costs of domestic and foreign toll roads
Micro companies 1.1 1.4 1.5 Micro companies 18.7 20.1 20.6
Small companies 4.4 9.6 12.7 Small companies 39.0 39.7 40.5
Medium companies 39.0 42.6 65.3 Medium companies 42.4 43.4 43.5
Large companies 103.2 95.0 114.1 Large companies 28.7 30.1 30.1
Comprehensive motor insurance cost Source: Author’s elaboration
Micro companies 1.3 1.6 1.7
Small companies 6.8 7.4 15.8
Medium companies 42.6 70.1 57. 0
Large companies 92.5 116.4 80.7

392 Promet – Trafc&Transportation, Vol. 27, 2015, No. 5, 387-394
S. Kot: An Emissions-Based User Equilibrium Model and Algorithm for Left-Turn Prohibition Planning
registration. Large companies bore the greatest costs
for emitting gasses and dusts to the environment.
Medium, small and then micro companies, which reg-
istered the greatest average costs of that kind in the
year 2010, allocated signicantly less for this purpose.
The level of transport means taxes grows along with
the number of owned vehicles; therefore, medium and
large companies have borne the most of it during the
analysed period. In the years 2011 and 2012 medium
and large companies bore the greatest costs on the
account of the fees of transport means. In the whole
period small companies bore half of that amount. In
case of heavy-duty vehicles both at home and abroad,
companies are obliged to use electronic system for the
collection of payments.
Comparing the cost structure in enterprises of dif-
ferent operation scales, it should be noted that: the
larger the company – the greater the share of fuel
costs and the smaller the share of other costs depen-
dent on the efciency of the company management.
The increase in scale of operations reduces the share
of employment costs, repair costs, or the costs asso-
ciated with penalties for delays in deliveries (Figure 2).
On the other hand, the larger the company, the greater
the desire to reduce the risk of business and so the
costs related to the insurance of transport and insur-
ance of transported goods account increase the share
in the total costs. An important element of costs for
micro companies are the fees for the use of domestic
and foreign roads which in their case may be almost
6% of the total cost which in case of medium-sized en-
terprises constitute only 1% of the cost, and of large
ones below 0.5%.
To sum up the studies, the annual average number
of orders in analysed companies uctuated within the
limits of 4.5 thousand. During their realization on the
average about 6 million kilometres were covered and
over a million of litres of fuel were consumed, with av-
erage annual cost ranging in the interval above 1.66
million euro annually. In the studied years the costs
of repairs and maintenance of the owned vehicles
amounted on the average to about 53.5 thousand euro
annually; a considerable part of this was accounted by
repairs of transport means of medium and large enter-
prises. The average costs of service in the examined
companies amounted to about 0.8 thousand euro.
Working hours of a single driver usually reached a
maximum of 3 thousand hours, for which the average
monthly salary uctuated from 0.7 to 0.8 thousand
euro gross monthly. The analysed entities paid on the
100%
0%
Micro
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
costs of domestic
and foreign toll roads
transport vehicles taxes
environmental costs
costs of nes connected
with delays
costs of insurance
of transported goods
comprehensive motor
insurance cost
liability insurance
of vehicle cost
costs of depreciation
costs of repairs
and maintenance
costs of salaries
fuel consumption costs
Small Medium Large
Figure 2 – Costs structure in road transport in studied entities according to company size in 2012 [percentage]
Source: Author’s elaboration

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Promet – Trafc&Transportation, Vol. 27, 2015, No. 5, 387-394 393
average about 0.5 thousand euro annually on the ac-
count of payments for emitting gas and dust into the
environment; however, annual costs borne by paying
fees for using domestic and foreign roads amounted
on the average to over 33.3 thousand euro.
The research result shows that cost structure in
road transport enterprises is dependent on their size
and performance volume. Analysing the cost structure
in the surveyed enterprises, a huge impact of the cost
of fuel can be noted, which accounted for 30% of all
costs in the micro to 70% in the large companies. An
important aspect is the signicant level of employment
cost in micro and small enterprises which account for
55% and 38%, respectively, of the total cost, which is
due to the relatively high xed costs of employment
distributed on the operations carried out on a smaller
scale. It proves the thesis of the paper that this situa-
tion results in low efciency and may in the long run
contribute to serious problems with the functioning of
this type of companies. The main paper ndings are
similar to those presented by Kulović [20] or McKin-
non [25] where the high xed costs of employment in
smaller enterprises were noticed with great inuence
on performance efciency; however, there is a lim-
itation of the research results because of the Polish
features (relatively smaller size) of road transport en-
terprises. So, there is strong need to continue studies
using international sample that allows comparison.
4. CONCLUSION
Road transport is still most important in the pres-
ent economic situation due to high logistic efciency
and exibility in relation to other transportation modes.
Better adaptation of road transport to logistics needs:
the greatest density of road networks linking produc-
tion, trade and consumption places, possibility of all
cargo kinds transportation and better time duration
considering door-to-door connections that render road
transport the most useful at present and in the future.
Currently, freight transport market is increasingly
feeling the effects of a slowing economy, which af-
fects the condition of the collapse in the construction
industry and the automotive crisis, particularly felt in
the reduction of trade in goods with Spain, Greece and
Italy and recently the collapse of exports to Russia and
Ukraine. These problems do not translate into good
nancial situation of Polish transport companies and
cause problems in eet management as the forecast
for the near future is not optimistic. In the near term
action must be taken to optimise costs in order to re-
duce the negative effects of rising operating costs,
decline in orders or reduction in the potential of busi-
nesses through lack of investments. Otherwise, it can
be expected that a few thousand in particular micro
and small transport companies will not be able to sur-
vive this difcult period.
Efcient road transport company management re-
quires precise costs analyses and controls. As theory
and research have shown, it is not simply a process
because of cost identication problem due to insuf-
cient accounting system used in transport companies;
so many data required for the research questionnaires
were calculated additionally because the accounting
system cannot generate necessary costs juxtaposition.
The research results showed high difference in cost
structures in road transport companies. The most sig-
nicant is that the costs of large companies are rather
dependent on fuel costs, which is rather irrespective of
company management. It can be also conrmed that
larger companies cut the costs inside the company bet-
ter than small enterprises. Micro and small road trans-
port companies require fast and effective costs control to
avoid problems. Introduction of IT systems seems to be
a good opportunity to control and cut the costs in those
companies; however, it requires also necessary invest-
ments. So, the relations between necessary investments
for IT introduction and the results in cost decrease and
control are an interesting area for future studies.
Dr hab. inż. SEBASTIAN KOT, Prof. P.Cz.
E-mail: sebacat@zim.pcz.czest.pl
Politechnika Częstochowska
Wydział Zarządzania
Armii Krajowej 19B, 42-200 Czestochowa, Polska
STRESZCZENIE
STRUKTURA KOSZTÓW W RELACJI DO WIELKOŚCI
PRZEDSIĘBIORSTW TRANSPORTU DROGOWEGO
Problem zarządzania kosztami w przedsiębiorstwach
transportu drogowego jest jednym z najbardziej istotnych dla
ich sprawnego funkcjonowania. Przedsiębiorstwa działające
na rynku są bardzo różnorodne, a zatem ważne jest, aby anal-
izować ich strukturę kosztów w relacji do ich wielkości. Autor
prowadzi rozważania dotyczące identykacji kosztów w trans-
porcie drogowym i problemów z tym związanych, w kontekście
logistyki i zarządzania łańcuchem dostaw kosztów. Rozważa-
nia oparte są na bazie znaczenia transportu drogowego w
usługach transportowych w Polsce i wybranych krajach Unii Eu-
ropejskiej. Następnie, przedstawiono metodologię badań obe-
jmującą opracowany kwestionariusz i zidentykowano próbę
badawczą ze zwróceniem szczególnej uwagi na wielkość przed-
siębiorstwa. Zaprezentowano szerokie badania dotyczące
struktury kosztów w przedsiębiorstwach transportu drogowego
w południowej Polsce, a także omówiono najważniejsze różnice
w wielkości kosztów. Autor zauważył, różnice struktury kosztów
w relacji do wielkości rmy, w szczególności dominację kosztów
zatrudnienia w mikro i małych przedsiębiorstwach transportu
drogowego oraz największy udział kosztów paliwa w większych
rmach, co jest wynikiem lepszego zarządzania zasobami.
SŁOWA KLUCZOWE
transport drogowy; struktura kosztów; koszt paliwa; wielkość
przedsiębiorstwa; analiza działania;

394 Promet – Trafc&Transportation, Vol. 27, 2015, No. 5, 387-394
S. Kot: An Emissions-Based User Equilibrium Model and Algorithm for Left-Turn Prohibition Planning
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