Punctuality has long been one of the most important indicators of quality in transport services. In the railway sector, especially in freight transport, delays are often attributed to infrastructure limitations or weather conditions. Less attention is paid to the human factor – specifically, the punctuality of traction crews. However, the absence of a train driver or inspector at the right time is often the cause of many costly standstills.

Operational Context: Crew Transport as a Critical Link

There is a paradox in railway operations – despite high automation of many processes, human coordination remains critically important. Traction crews must be on site punctually, often at stations, terminals, or sidings with limited road access. Transporting these teams is a highly variable process, frequently carried out outside major urban areas and around the clock.

As logistics operators emphasize, the reliability of passenger transport planning and execution systems plays an increasingly important role in practice, especially for carriers with a dispersed organizational structure.

Benchmark: What Does 99.7% Punctuality Mean?

For most participants in the railway market, punctuality at the level of 95–97% is considered satisfactory. However, companies that provide transport services for multiple operators simultaneously, often handling tens of thousands of orders monthly, must operate with much greater precision.

As demonstrated by Cargo Speed International, which serves clients including PKP Cargo and Orlen Kolej, maintaining a 99.7% punctuality rate across more than 18,000 trips per month is achievable — but it requires constant supervision, advanced technology, and operational experience.

In industry discussions, questions increasingly arise: is such a punctuality level an exception or the new standard? And will other operators need to adapt to this benchmark?

What Drives High Punctuality?

Technology and Operational Know-How

The mentioned company implemented the RAILY Taxi system, developed by SP Tech Solutions — one of the few tools in the railway market designed to manage crew transport in real time. Such systems enable, among other things:

• order registration without the involvement of the client’s dispatcher,

• real-time monitoring of the driver’s route execution,

• integration with train drivers’ work planning systems,

• analysis of key performance indicators such as arrival time and schedule compliance.
  

Unlike typical fleet management solutions, systems used for crew transport must accommodate specific working conditions — for example, night transport to railway locations, the need to adapt to schedule changes, and the availability of drivers with appropriate licenses.

Rynek The Market Is Changing – Pressure on Carriers Is Increasing

With increasing competition in the railway market and growing expectations from major shippers, the punctuality of traction crews is becoming as important as the availability of locomotives or wagons. Operators who fail to ensure reliable service in this area risk not only delays but also tangible costs — in the form of contractual penalties, diminished customer trust, and lost transport opportunities.

From the operators’ perspective, outsourcing crew transport services to specialized providers is a natural step — provided that the partner guarantees not only trip execution but also compliance with standards (ISO, GDPR, NIS2), reporting, and support in emergency situations.

Conclusions: Punctuality as the New Benchmark of Service Quality

For many companies, the difference between being a "good" and a "reliable" operator today comes down to just a few percentage points in punctuality. At the scale at which the largest carriers operate, these few points translate into real differences in the number of completed orders, delayed trains, or unfulfilled contracts.

Cargo Speed International, as one of the few operators in this niche, demonstrates that a punctuality rate of 99.7% can be a consistent result rather than a one-time record. This sends a clear signal to the market — high standards in crew transport are no longer a competitive advantage but increasingly a prerequisite for staying in the game.