###### Abstract
Every truck's engine power is about 300-350 kW (of the 50 trucks' engine power, about 15,000 kW is used), while train locomotive engine power on average is about 3000 kW [5; 8; 20; 27; 28; 29]. The \"Last mile\" destination should be organized between the railway station and the destination point. It is worth noting that, on average, one freight train can replace about 50 trucks. A similar situation can be ascertained between Szczecin Seaport and Berlin region, because Szczecin Seaport is the closest port to the Berlin region. Consequently, for transportation needs between Szczecin Seaport and the Berlin region, road, railway and inland waterway transport could be used [30]. The inland waterway route travels to the Oder River area from Szczecin to the Hohensaaten lock, the Oder-Havel Canal and the Havel River, which connects to the inland waterway system of Western Europe [8]. Generally, inland water transport plays a significant role in transporting bulk, general and liquid cargo, including intermodal transport units, such as containers or vehicles. Inland water transport is gaining more and more attention as a sustainable alternative for road and railway transport, since the focus on energy (fuel) saving, as well as emissions reduction, has been growing in the past years [8; 9; 28; 29; 30]. As an example, fuel consumption (on average) is as follows: road transport fuel consumption is about 55-65 g/t km; railway transport uses about 30-35 g/t km fuel; inland waterway transport uses about 8-10 g/t km fuel; sea transport uses about 2-4 g/t km fuel [9; 10; 11; 12; 13; 14]. In order to develop inland transport, it is necessary to induce and ensure flexibility for logistic chains so that advantages could be gained from an economic and energy-saving point of view. Though trains have a real operating electric alternative at this time, electric boats, barges and tug projects already exist in the world [31; 32; 33; 34; 35]. The results from research studies suggest a potential to reduce energy consumption by approximately 13-15% in comparison to conventional systems that run on a diesel engine [31; 32]. Inland waterways transport is also an option to reduce traffic problems, which is obviously related to reduced fuel consumption. A country which has natural rivers and channels should pay more attention to investing in and benefiting from the advantages provided by inland water ways. Tug boats or tugs are operating when it is necessary to push-pull nonpropelled barges, which play a big part in the transportation chain in various countries [33; 34; 36; 37; 38; 39]. In Europe, the inland waterways infrastructure network is about 24,000 km in length and quite well adapted for transportation of many different cargoes [30]. These networks enable setting up the transport service systems by the vessel/barge operators and logistics companies involved [40]. The Infrastructure network of inland shipping systems consists of two components. The first is a global one, which includes shipping lines where cargo comes to seaport hubs, where it is sorted and prepared for distribution by inland water transport. It is then moved further into the continent to the final inland cargo port from which cargo is being delivered to other destinations by road or rail transport, and decreasing energy consumption for delivery of the same amount of cargo [40]. In many European regions, as well as in other places in the world, it is possible to use various transport modes for cargo transportation between regions, cargo shippers and consignees, and it is very important to find sustainable transportation systems oriented towards optimizing the transportation costs and energy saving and, at the same time, minimize the environmental impact. Research in this area can assist with locating optimal solutions and reducing the need for energy resources, decreasing the environmental impact and optimizing cargo transportation and storage costs [40]. Several methods are presented in literature sources which seek to reduce transportation time, costs and energy demand.