THE MARGINAL ANALYSIS AS A METHOD FOR RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT OF OPERATING COSTS IN RAIL FREIGHT TRANSPORT

It is a characteristic of the transport sector companies that operate in a highly competitive internal and external market environment. To survive and thrive in such an environment, they should strive for continuous improvement in the efficiency of their operations. An important role in achieving such an intention is to carry out constant monitoring and analysis of ongoing business processes in the enterprise, as well as to study their impact in the formation of its financial results. Besides, one of the main focuses of management is the monitoring and research of enterprise costs. The study of costs in freight rail transport enterprises is a determining factor for the elaboration of management decisions tailored to the economic reality and economic conjuncture. This raises the need for a comprehensive and in-depth cost analysis - based on the numerous schemes of systematization and models of functional dependencies between costs and other economic objects. In this regard, the purpose of conducting a cost analysis is to identify the changes that have occurred and to seek opportunities to optimize them. The great importance of research and analysis of costs also stems from the fact that their value, structure, and dynamics depend on the financial result. Any relative cost reduction has a positive impact on the financial result. The actuality of the research and analysis of operating costs in rail transport is driven by the fact that rail freight is faced with an extremely serious problem, such as increasing competition from other modes of transport. This paper examines one of the many management methods for cost research - the marginal cost method. The theoretical aspects of the method are briefly presented, as well as its practical application, which is illustrated by an example.