Analysis of Choice Behaviors of Railway Shippers for Freight Services Based on a Fuzzy Integrated Choice and Latent Variable Model

Wanglin Xu,Yun Jing,Yingjin Zhang,Siye Guo

doi:10.1109/access.2020.2984626

Wanglin Xu, Yun Jing + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1109/access.2020.2984626

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Journal: IEEE Access	Publication Date: Jan 1, 2020
Citations: 18	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Beijing Jiaotong University

Abstract

The existing schemes show that the application of an Integrated Choice and Latent Variable (ICLV) model in choice behaviors of railway shippers in freight services provided by China Railway Express (CRE) and private logistics enterprises (PLEs) is a challenge. Therefore, this paper focuses on the freight service products of CRE and PLEs and constructs a Fuzzy ICLV model by combining a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation with the ICLV model to analyze choice behaviors in freight services of railway shippers. The Fuzzy ICLV model offered significant advantages because it allowed us to incorporate latent variables that regard perceived convenience and reliability with a traditional discrete choice model (DCM). The results of the Fuzzy ICLV model clearly confirm that shippers’ perceptions of the convenience and reliability of freight service products impact their freight service product choices. The results also show that the freight, time, distance from shippers to the sales department, destination distance, occupation, monthly income level, order quantity, cargo weight, and type are all major factors that affect Chinese railway shippers’ choice behaviors for freight services. The goodness-of-fit measure of the Fuzzy ICLV model is 0.325, which is higher than that of the Nested Logit (NL) model. The results of this study can fill the gaps in choice behaviors in freight services research on Chinese railway shippers and have important implications for operators of CRE to adjust their freight service strategies or products.

Highlights

With the development of China’s economy and the upgrading of industrial structures, the structure of freight transportation demands is undergoing fundamental changes
Among the freight service products of China Railway Express (CRE), the high-speed railway (HSR) express and standard express are under study
Among the freight service products of private logistics enterprises (PLEs), the time-limited express and standard express are under study

Summary

INTRODUCTION

With the development of China’s economy and the upgrading of industrial structures, the structure of freight transportation demands is undergoing fundamental changes. This paper aims to apply a Fuzzy ICLV model that incorporates two psychological factors that are associated with perceived convenience and perceived reliability to analyze the choice behaviors for freight services of CRE’s shippers. EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS This paper takes some of the shippers of CRE as research objects, and uses the RP/SP survey to collect their choice results on the freight service products of CRE and PLEs. Among the freight service products of CRE, HSR express and standard express are under study. DATA COLLECTION AND SELECTION-TREE ESTABLISHMENT This study used the RP/SP survey and collaborated with CRE Beijing West Station Sales Department during the data collection phase of the questionnaire This survey took the shippers of CRE who used HSR express and the standard express of CRE as investigation objects, along with access to the relevant information and the choice of CRE freight services products and PLEs freight services products.

QUANTIFYING INDICATORS

Findings

CONCLUSION