General cargo terminals in Norway - Structure and key figures

On behalf of the national transport authorities in Norway, TØI have carried out a survey among general cargo terminals in Norway. The main objective for the project has been to generate and increase knowledge about general cargo terminals and terminal structure in Norway. Public ports, rail terminals and terminals owned by freight forwarders with a nationwide network in Norway are included in the survey. Terminals located in the Oslo area are in average largest, while terminals in the northern part of Norway are smallest. Number of terminals relative to freight volumes, are higher in the northern part of Norway compared to the rest of the country, reflecting that the size of the area covered by a terminal rather than the freight volume are leading for number of terminals. Reloading costs are substantially lower in the ports than in the general cargo freight terminals, which must be caused by higher labour intensity in the general cargo freight terminals. The main objective of a terminal is consolidating freight flows, but while ports and rail terminals are consolidating containers, terminals owned by freight forwarders consolidate freight inside the containers, that are rather more labour intensive.