The impact of governance on the management of Less than full Truck Load transportation service networks (LTL networks)

Abstract

Nowadays logistics in general is being considered as the lubricant of the globally evolving world economy.1 Since the core competency driven division of labour between spatially dispersed industries (national and international) is steadily increasing, more and more companies are intertwined by intensified flows of physical goods. These flows are characterised by goods of higher value that are transported in smaller unit loads at higher frequencies. In return, this results into an increased need for bundled transportation services, permitting the cost efficient integration of multiple independent goods flows. Furthermore the spatial distances are growing, seeing that the places of production and the points of consumption are ever more remotely located. As a first consequence, effective and efficient transportation services — one of the logistics core activities — play a key role for the successful operation of modern production and distribution and their corresponding logistics systems.2 As a second consequence, the demand for professional transportation and logistics services is palpably rising.3