Reforming and privatizing Poland's road freight industry

This study explores options for the restructuring and the privatization of PKS, Poland's main state-owned enterprise for road transport of passengers and general freight. As regards privatization, the focus of the study is on road freight haulage operations of PKS and not on its passenger operations by bus. Privatization of road haulage (trucking) is intended to raise the productivity of resources employed in transport and to thereby assist in the recovery of the economy and of employment. The key to this outcome is the creation of a competitive environment and, equally, the introduction of management by, or under the control of, owners with a clear right to the net income from the business. The process of privatization must therefore allow wide scope for the development of commercially alert and market-oriented management. The scope and form of feasible privatization depend also on how road haulage will be regulated and on financing possibilities for private buyers, investors or tenants. The study therefore also analyzes the general organization of Poland's road haulage, the operations of its different segments, and discusses transport regulation, financing and taxation.