Improving Transnational Transport Corridors
In the OIC Member Countries: Concepts and Cases
42
In TEN-T region wages do influence each other. Wages differ within Europe. In Eastern Europe
average wages are lower compared to the average wage in Western Europe. Truck drivers
from the Eastern parts of Europe have a strong influence on the transport market in Western
Europe. The average price of road transportation has dropped considerably. This tariff
reduction pushes high waged truck drivers out of the market, and it has a price effect on other
modes for cargo types that compete with road transport. This wage equalization is the
consequence of intensive trade. (Darvas, 2016) shows that income inequality in the 28
countries which are now members of the European Union has been on a unique course in
recent decades. Inequality is much lower among EU citizens than in other parts of the world,
and actually fell in 1994-2008.
Whether this is advantageous or disadvantageous depends on the scale and the scope of the
observation. For the region internal competition and equalization will lead to higher
performance on aggregate level. For the individual countries the result can differ: the
strengthening of the Polish transportation sector is a gain for Poland. For the transportation
sector in Western European countries is resulted in competition, price drops and contraction.
Profit margins on successful and busy corridors tend to drop due to the high volume and the
high level of competition. This has the effect that companies seeking higher profit will divert to
other less operated routes.
This phenomenon is clearly reflected by the cabotage market. In this market there is increasing
competition. shows the amount of cabotage for the EU-27 and the amount that takes
place in each country for a selection of years. Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands have
a market share of about half of this market. Parallel the newer Member States all show
significant growth figures, especially Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia and Estonia.