BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 12. The International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA) has published a practical guide to assessing and organizing freight transportation along multimodal transport corridors, using the Middle Corridor as the first example for applying its methodology.
According to the International Road Transport Union (IRU), the guide is designed for freight forwarding companies and aims to help them assess transport routes based on the practical conditions involved in moving goods.
The publication notes that geopolitical shifts and disruptions to major trade routes have reshaped supply chains. However, discussions about transport corridors often focus on infrastructure, government policy and investment, while the practical aspects of organizing freight transportation receive less attention.
FIATA's new guide provides a framework for assessing transport corridors based on factors such as available transport capacity, transit-time reliability, documentation requirements, operational constraints, resilience to disruptions and the availability of alternative routes.
The document also introduces a system for evaluating transport corridors across three main areas: infrastructure and transport network capacity, the quality of corridor services, and trade facilitation conditions and the regulatory environment. Particular attention is given to the resilience of transport routes to various disruptions.
The Middle Corridor, which connects Asia and Europe via the Caspian Sea and the South Caucasus, serves as the first case study applying the methodology.
A separate section of the guide examines customs transit, addressing challenges faced by international freight operators, including border delays, documentation procedures and unpredictable delivery times.
As part of a case study on the eTIR system, FIATA also reviewed freight shipments carried out earlier this year across the Caspian Sea between Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
The guide identifies several benefits of eTIR for freight forwarding companies, including cross-border transit under a unified customs system, electronic exchange of customs information, reduced paperwork and the advance submission of cargo information.
The publication of the guide marks the first stage of FIATA's broader initiative to examine multimodal transport corridors from the perspective of freight forwarding companies, IRU reported.
