Freight Transport Industry Research Articles

Sustainability Intervention Mechanisms for Managing Road Freight Transport Externalities: A Systematic Literature Review

With road freight transport continuing to dominate global freight transport operations, there is increasing pressure on the freight transport industry and its stakeholders to address concerns over its sustainability. This paper adopts a systematic review to examine the academic literature on road freight transport sustainability between 2001 and 2018. Using content and thematic analysis, the paper identifies and categorises sustainability intervention mechanisms providing useful insights on key research applications areas and continental distribution of sustainable road freight transport (SRFT) research. In addition to the six-overarching sustainability intervention mechanism themes identified: decoupling, Information and Communications Technology (ICT), modality, operations, policy, and other, future research can explore the effectiveness of different interventions mechanisms identified in this study to improve sustainable practices across different continents.

ANALYSIS OF GREEN FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION PRACTICES AS A DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGY IN THE FREIGHT TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

24Feb 2018 ANALYSIS OF GREEN FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION PRACTICES AS A DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGY IN THE FREIGHT TRANSPORT INDUSTRY. T. N. S Desilva and D. R. Ratnajeewa. Department of Management and Finance, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Sri Lanka.

THE EVOLUTION OF HIGH PRODUCTIVITY VEHICLES IN AUSTRALIA AND THEIR BENEFITS

Although the Australian road freight transport industry has seen three mass limits reviews in the mid 1970s, the mid 1980s and in the late 1990s, (Hassall, 2005), there were two very significant truck configuration changes that happened in the mid 1980s and then again in the early 2000s. The first was the trials of a variant of the Canadian B-train (the B-Double) which was introduced into Australia in the mid 1980s. This ‘Australian’ B-Double could achieve payloads some 30% to 40% higher than the conventional ‘semi trailer’ articulated combination. By 2016 some 18,900 of these vehicles were operational in Australia. The second adoption of new vehicle configurations started in 1999 through the National Road Transport Commission (NRTC), who adopted, and further developed, another Canadian concept, that of “Performance Based Standards” (PBS). This effectively allowed for new, flexible truck designs, as long as the vehicles performed against a set of 17 specific technical engineering performance criteria. This Performance Based Standards approach, since 1998, also allowed even larger configurations to B-Doubles to be used by operators. The benefits already of these new configurations has delivered billions of dollars in kilometre savings to the road freight industry and to its customers, as well as very significant safety benefits to the community.

Identification and selection of ICTs for freight transport in product service supply chain diversification

PurposeFollowing the methodology designed for selecting the best industrial and technological diversification strategy, one of the best methods for achieving the long-term sustainability of companies, the purpose of this paper is to describe its application in the service supply chains (SSCs) sector, specifically, in freight transport in product service supply chains.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology used in diversification processes comprises four stages: evaluation of the technological diversification suitability; selection of the technological diversification strategy; implementation of the diversification strategy; and evaluation of the process.FindingsThe main contributions of the paper are: the proposal of a taxonomy or functional inventory for information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the freight transport industry (FTI); the introduction of a new concept, the technological shrub, a variant of the technological tree that allows interdependencies between the functionality systems; the construction of a technological shrub for ICTs in a standard FTI firm; and the multicriteria selection, based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), of the best diversification strategy that can be incorporated by this standard firm for improving competitiveness. This selection utilises a “bottom-up” approach.Originality/valueThe paper deals with the long-term sustainability of companies by means of technological diversification strategies. Based on the taxonomy constructed for ICTs in the SSC sector and the identification of key technologies for a particular firm, a technological shrub is constructed and a multicriteria procedure is developed in order to select the best diversification strategy.

비모수적 방법론을 이용한 교통물류산업의 생산성 분석

In this study, the overall productivity change of the transportation logistics industry is analyzed using the non-parametric method, the first-order stochastic dominance, and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. In order to do that, we use “Transportation Survey 2004 and 2014” data provided by Korean Statistical Office. The analysis shows that per capita productivity has increased in the land and pipeline transportation, water transportation, and warehouse and transportation services industries. It is analyzed that productivity per person increases in the land passenger transportation industry and the road freight transportation industry, which are the subdivisions of the land and pipeline transportation industry. However, in the case of the road freight transportation industry, productivity per capita deteriorated at marginal enterprises, which led to suspicions that the various freight industries policies in the 2000s had intensified polarization. The maritime transport industry and the inland water transport and in-port transportation industry, which are sub-sectors of the water transport industry are also found to improve productivity per capita. In addition, the sub-sectors of warehouse and transportation service industries, such as the warehousing and the transportation-related services, are expected to improve productivity per capita in 2014 compared to 2004. Therefore, the per capita productivity of the warehouse and transportation-related service industries also increased in 2014 compared to 2004. As a result of this study, it is found that transportation companies` productivity increases with the overall change in the transportation logistics industry in Korea in the 2000s. However, it is difficult to grasp whether this change in productivity is caused by government policy changes or by the efforts of individual companies. This is also the limit of this study. Anyway, this study will be meaningful in that it has observed the productivity change of the overall transportation logistics industry including the 2000s and 2010s.

Rebound Effects and Policy Implications in Korean Road Freight Transport Industry

Rebound Effects and Policy Implications in Korean Road Freight Transport Industry

Organizational Mode Innovation and Credit Supervision in Road Freight Transportation under Smart Mobile Devices Applications Services

Abstract The rapid development of China's road freight transport has driven many issues over the last few decades, and trends are to apply new technology to improve the efficiency of cargo movement. In the view of current problems in the supervision and operational mode in China, this paper analysis the function and characteristics of road freight mobile apps that appeared in markets and describes how they may change the road freight industry in the future. Taking the Luge logistic, Cainiao logistic and Loji logistic as representative, a loose network organization is emerging and the intensive mode provides a direction for the transformation and innovation of China's freight transport industry by integrating small and medium-sized business operators to improve the social logistics. The research indicate flat structural design based on smart mobile terminals can balance the supply and demand, in particular to enhance return-picking rate to improve individual benefit, and reduce overall social resources and environmental cost. Record of footprint of goods based on apps and big data analysis provides good database and technical support for the third-party credit evaluation of freight transport operations, and the government may apply the credit evaluation platform composed of trade credit and social credit to regulate the road freight transport industry directly in the future. The survey indicates that most stakeholders support the promotion of freight mobile apps, and the traditional operation may be replaced by the application of freight mobile apps in the future.

Assessing the Impacts of Final Demand on CO<sub>2</sub>-eq Emissions in the Mexican Economy: An Input-Output Analysis

The aim of this paper is to analyze the Mexican energy system and its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the year 2012 and to estimate a baseline scenario for 2026 using an input-output analysis. The elasticity of emissions with respect to national demand is calculated in order to identify the total and distributed effects of CO2 equivalent (CO2-eq) emissions. In this framework, the analysis evaluates the effects in the economy related to changes in individual sector demands, and, vice versa, the effect on individual sectors due to global changes in national demands. Results show that passenger and freight transport, power generation, iron and steel industry, chemical industry, air transportation and agriculture concentrate the largest potential for mitigation strategies, and also have important distributive effects on the Mexican economy. Results are evaluated under the mitigation strategies of industrial sector proposed by the Fifth Assessment Report of the IPCC.

Proposed Method for Measuring Customer Orientation of Companies in Freight Transport Sector

The freight transport industry is growing rapidly. There is great interest in improving processes and operations to make them more efficient and customer friendly. Freight transport research traditionally focuses on demand modeling, mode choice, and operational optimization. In contrast, this paper addresses a new field: development of a customer-oriented measurement system for freight and logistics companies. The measurement system was developed as part of research carried out for the Swiss National Railways Cargo Division and is based on professional expertise and data from stakeholders in all parts of the logistics chain. The proposed method is an indicator-based system built on a theoretical foundation, informed with the help of a workshop with experts, and validated with real-world data. The method can be used to measure the customer focus of logistics service providers over time and thus enable them to improve and benchmark a pool of logistics companies. The proposed method can also be customized to evaluate other specific customer needs by adjusting weights and indicators within its computational structure.

화물자동차운송업 종사자들의 고용형태에 따른 직업만족도 비교 연구

화물자동차운송업 종사자들의 고용형태에 따른 직업만족도 비교 연구

Macro-logistics and externality cost trends in South Africa – underscoring the sustainability imperative

The challenges facing the logistics industry in a fossil fuel-challenged global economy are highlighted by transportation's rising contribution to logistics costs, as evidenced in the USA's and South Africa's logistics costs time series, the two longest-running such series available globally. The anticipated persistence of rising, volatile oil prices and mounting pressure to account for externalities will exacerbate the increase in transport costs (TCs). The results of South Africa's externality cost model show that transport externalities add an additional 18% to already high TCs. In the South African context, the equally largest contributors to freight transport externalities are accidents involving road freight vehicles and road freight emissions. The visibility of these costs is the first step towards internalisation and illustrates the desirability of a fundamental shift in the structure of the South African freight transport industry through the introduction of long-distance intermodal solutions.

Provincial logistics costs in South Africa’s Western Cape province: Microcosm of national freight logistics challenges

Background: Logistics costs are most commonly measured on a national level. An understanding of the provincial logistics landscape can add significant value both to provincial and national policy interventions; such measurements are however scarce. South Africa’s national freight logistics survey points to significant challenges in the structure of the freight transport market, most importantly the dominance of road freight transport on dense, longdistance corridors. The Cape Town-Gauteng corridor is the main economic artery linking the Western Cape province to the rest of the country.Objectives: The provincial government commissioned this research to develop an understanding of the province’s contribution to the national logistics challenges in order to alleviate both provincial and national logistics challenges.Results: The research results provide a distinct description of the key action required – to provide an intermodal solution for the dense flows of fast-moving consumer goods on the Cape Town-Gauteng corridor in order to reduce the significant transport and externality costs related to these flows and reduce exposure to exogenous cost drivers.Conclusion: Collaborative research between government and private industry into appropriate intermodal technologies must be prioritised within the ambit of South Africa’s socioeconomic environment. This shift can be further supported through the internalisation of road transport externalities to enable a total cost decision between modes, as well as through appropriate regulation of the freight transport industry.

Do not blame the driver: A systems analysis of the causes of road freight crashes

Although many have advocated a systems approach in road transportation, this view has not meaningfully penetrated road safety research, practice or policy. In this study, a systems theory-based approach, Rasmussens’s (1997) risk management framework and associated Accimap technique, is applied to the analysis of road freight transportation crashes. Twenty-seven highway crash investigation reports were downloaded from the National Transport Safety Bureau website. Thematic analysis was used to identify the complex system of contributory factors, and relationships, identified within the reports. The Accimap technique was then used to represent the linkages and dependencies within and across system levels in the road freight transportation industry and to identify common factors and interactions across multiple crashes. The results demonstrate how a systems approach can increase knowledge in this safety critical domain, while the findings can be used to guide prevention efforts and the development of system-based investigation processes for the heavy vehicle industry. A research agenda for developing an investigation technique to better support the application of the Accimap technique by practitioners in road freight transportation industry is proposed.

HOW MUCH WOULD ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES COST? THE INTERNALIZATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL COSTS IN THE EUROPEAN TRANSPORT INDUSTRY

Environmental issues have over the last few years become an increasing concern for both the public and for companies, but, less is known about how companies could internalize the negative effects of environmental issues. Public regulators are taking a tougher stance with regards to environmental regulations. As regulations become stricter, firms will have to pay the cost of compliance. In this paper, we attempt to shed some light on how firms could internalize these environmental effects and what the benefits of early internalisation could be. We do this by using a qualitative analysis, elaborating a case study in the Spanish road freight transport industry (i.e., international transport of goods by road) to compare the environmental behaviour of the analyzed company in 2009 and its current environmental approach. By conducting interviews in two differentiated periods, the main conclusion of this study is that, as regulation becomes more stringent, environmentally proactive firms will be more capable of facing the challenge of an accurate internalisation of environmental effects and consequently they could reinforce sustainable development and simultaneously reduce negative environmental impacts.

A bilevel storage pricing model for outbound containers in a dry port system

Serving as a potential solution for seaport congestion and capacity limitation, dry port development is increasingly popular in the freight transport industry. This paper pioneers the research on dry port operations by modelling the storage pricing problem for outbound containers. The interaction between a dry port and multiple shippers is modelled as a bilevel program. The optimal properties of the proposed model under certain conditions are derived analytically, from which a closed-form solution is obtained. Contrary to intuition, the increase of container delivery frequency from shippers may lead to the reduction of dry port’s profit according to model outcomes.

South Africa’s rising logistics costs: An uncertain future

A country’s competitiveness can be severely hampered by an uncompetitive freight logistics system. During the first decade of the 21st century, two in-depth models were developed for South Africa which provide a framework for measuring and improving the country’s freight logistics system – the cost of logistics survey and the freight demand model. These models also allow for the development of scenarios for key identified risks. The objectives of this study were to provide an overview of South Africa’s surface freight transport industry,identify key risks to national competitiveness and suggest ways in which these risks could be mitigated. Freight flows were modelled by disaggregating the national input–output model into 372 origin–destination pairs and 71 commodity groups, followed by distance decay gravity-modelling. Logistics costs were calculated by relating commodity-level freight flows to the costs of fulfilling associated logistical functions. South Africa’s economy is highly transport intensive. Excessive dependence on road freight transport exacerbates this situation. Furthermore, the road freight transport’s key cost driver is fuel, driven in turn by the oil price. Scenario analysis indicated the risk posed by this rising and volatile input and should provide impetus for policy instruments to reduce transport intensity. As such, this study concluded that a reduction in freight transport intensity is required to reduce exposure to volatile international oil prices.

Analyzing the Promoting Factors for Adopting Green Logistics Practices: A Case Study of Road Freight Industry in Nanjing, China

Corporate Environment Management (CEM) is one of the most critical areas for encouraging truck fleets to adopt the green logistics activities under the serious situation of energy security and emission pressures. However, CEM has not been widely adopted in the road freight transportation industry in China yet. This paper describes green logistics practices in China and identifies factors which will have significant effect on the adoption of green logistics in truck fleets. A research framework was developed based on the theory of institutional economics, which was used to describe concept relationships between the driving factors and green logistics practices of truck fleets. A questionnaire survey was conducted in road freight transportation industry in Nanjing, China. A structural equation model was then developed to illustrate concept relationships using factor analysis. The main driving factors identified included an environmental management strategy, mandatory and normative and supply chain pressure. The current green logistics activities of truck fleets identified related to the logistics environment management, green storage and packaging, green transportation, fleet management, alternative fuel implementation and logistics innovation. These findings will aid the adoption of green logistics in the road freight transportation industry in China.

Climate Change and Freight-Transportation Infrastructure: Current Challenges for Adaptation

The transportation system infrastructure in the United States is vital to sustaining the nation’s economy, safety, and well-being. In its recent special report, Potential Impacts of Climate Change on U.S. Transportation, the National Research Council concluded that climate change will have significant impacts on transportation systems, affecting design, construction, operation, and maintenance. Furthermore, the report calls for a focus on the problem now through adaptation planning to avoid costly future investments and disruptions to operations. This begins with sharing information, resources, best practices, and lessons learned across jurisdictional lines and among different stakeholders. With this in mind, a select group of stakeholders representing the freight-transportation industry and climate science participated in a summit held at Vanderbilt University in 2011, to reach consensus on the needs and challenges that must be addressed in order for successful adaptation strategies to emerge. This paper presents a brief review of the relevant literature on this topic, shares the outcomes and findings of summit deliberations, and provides recommendations for a path forward.

Opportunities for the achievement of economies of scale in freight transport.

In the interest of both the national economy and the commercial freight industry, government freight transport policy formulators and freight transport industry decision makers should take cognisance of (a) the opportunities that exist for the achievement of economies in freight transport; (b) the subgroups of economies that can enhance efficiency attainment in the freight transport industry; (c) prevailing cost levels and structures within the five modes of freight transport; and (d) the salient economic features of the freight transport market. This paper presents an overview of these four aspects. The research approach and methodology combine (a) a literature survey; (b) an analysis of the cost structures of freight transport modes; and (c) interviews conducted with specialists in the freight transport industry.

Comparative economic efficiency, operating costs and fuel consumption rates of freight transport modes between the largest industrial cities and seaports in South Africa

The paper deals with aspects of efficiency within the five modes of freight transport, with special reference to the operating cost and fuel consumption rates between South Africa’s largest industrial cities and seaports. In particular, the paper deals with (a) the opportunities that exist for the achievement of efficiency in freight transport; (b) the subgroups of economies that can enhance efficiency attainment in the freight transport industry; (c) prevailing cost structures, operating cost and fuel consumption rates within the five modes of freight transport; and (d) the salient economic features of the freight transport market. The research approach and methodology combine (a) a literature survey; (b) empiric research, (c) an analysis of the cost structures of freight transport operators from different modes of transport; and (d) interviews conducted with specialists in the freight transport industry.