Abstract
Background: Two recurring issues in freight research regard the determination of the decision-makers in terms of freight mode choice and the modal attributes that shippers consider when making such mode choice decisions. Objectives: As few studies have been conducted in freight transport research in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region; this paper provides empirical results on two research questions that allows the understanding of the freight procurement landscape in SADC. Firstly, who the decision maker is in terms of freight mode choice, and secondly, which modal attributes are consider and in which order, when shippers make mode choice decisions. Method: An online survey was conducted with 86 shippers, freight forwarders and third-party logistics parties across the SADC region to address modal attributes in freight mode choice. The exploded logit model was developed to draw inference from the data. Results: The results confirm that freight mode choice decisions are mostly affected by the shipper, with the freight forwarder being typically employed as the advisor. In terms of modal attributes, the results of an exploded logit model revealed that the top five attributes in terms of importance are reliability with reference to arriving on time, transport cost, risk of damage, frequency of service and transit time. Conclusion: These results can inform freight studies, especially shipper behavioural studies, which require the enumeration of attributes that can lead to improved reliable studies on freight transport.
Highlights
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) region identified, as a major activator of its developmental objectives, the need to develop a regional freight transport system to achieve social integration, economic development and intra-regional trade (SADC 2013)
The sample was composed of 86 respondents from 11 countries across SADC, including Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), eSwatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibian Ports Authority (Namibia), South Africa, Tanzania, Zamibia and Zimbabwe (Figure 3, 4 and 5)
The results show that it is the shipper who mostly makes the decision regarding freight mode choice
Summary
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) region identified, as a major activator of its developmental objectives, the need to develop a regional freight transport system to achieve social integration, economic development and intra-regional trade (SADC 2013). Two particular areas of contention reiteratively occur in the literature: determining the decision-maker (DM) in terms of freight mode choice and determining the modal attributes that shippers consider when making mode choice decisions (Bergantino & Bollis 2003; García-Menéndez et al 2004). These issues were first highlighted by Winston (1983) when he researched ‘the critical determinants of mode choice in freight transport’ in the United States (US). Two recurring issues in freight research regard the determination of the decisionmakers in terms of freight mode choice and the modal attributes that shippers consider when making such mode choice decisions
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