Lo sviluppo delle economie di scala nel settore marittimo container e gli effetti sulla portualità

The unitization of loads by means of containers allowed a relevant reduction of both the costs of the maritime trip (via economies of scale in hold management) and the port costs (via a simplification and standardization of handling). The article highlights trends in the strategies of container shipping lines, and in the implications of port logistics sector deriving from the evolution of the technical features of fleets (gigantism) and from the improvement of alliances between operators. Three main levels of impact can be highlighted, which require investments and specific measures in order to react to these new drivers of change in a positive and effective manner, and to allow logistics to remain a factor of economic development rather than diseconomies for shippers and territories. Such three levels are: port terminals, the intermodal transport network, and dry ports The optimization of coordination among all players of the intermodal chain, therefore, proves to be the main reaction to these trends, with the aim both to avoid bottlenecks and to take advantage of the potential benefits deriving from exploiting economies of scale and from the horizontal integration in the maritime part of the chain. Anyways, monitoring the actual impacts of these strategies, in order to both verify their economic, social and environmental sustainability, and to avoid forms of abuse of dominance, is essential as a central element in the accompanying policies for the development of new port logistics systems.