Freight transport growth––a theoretical and methodological framework

doi:10.1016/S0377-2217(02)00395-8

European Journal of Operational Research

Volume 144, Issue 2, 16 January 2003, Pages 295-305

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0377-2217(02)00395-8 Get rights and content

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to describe how the freight transport sector is influenced by logistical principles of production and distribution. The article will introduce new ways of understanding freight transport as an integrated part of the changing trends of mobility. Moreover, it also aims to describe how the driving forces behind mobility influence the transport industry. This is, however, associated with methodological difficulties, as logistical thinking tends to lack the notion of transport. It is safe to say that there is a serious lack of knowledge as to what are the consequences of different logistical concepts in terms of transport in a chain context. This paper presents research carried out by the authors at Roskilde University (DK).

Section snippets

Logistical principles and transport

Within the last decennia the structure of freight transport growth in Europe has changed in several ways, the most important being the shift from train to truck and the growth in logistical reach (distance). One explanation for this development relates to the change in the logistically induced demand for transport, especially the increase in flexibility of the production and distribution structures, another relates to the improvement of infrastructure.

It is often stated that few changes are

Analytical approach

The relationship between logistic organisation and transport is not straightforwardly established. A direct empirical approach trying to establish correlation between different types of logistical organisation and the amount of transport is difficult for a number of reasons:

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Logistical organisation is not the only dominant explanatory variable––other factors connected to the realisation of a logistical organisation might also have explanatory value, which cannot be ignored.
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Logistical

Construction of a themed interview guide

From the previous chapters it appears that this paper advocates a semi-qualitative/semi-quantitative approach to studying the driving forces of freight transport growth. Thus, in order to apply the analytical framework outlined in this paper, a themed interview guide was composed where McKinnon’s four levels of logistical decision making acted as the overall structure with the transport logistical indicators as subcategories. Data are to be collected through qualitative interviews complemented

Summary and perspectives

This paper has presented a perspective of analysing transport in a logistical chain perspective. Within the logistical field transport is often understood as an integrated part of the supply and demand chains. Transport is seen as a necessary precondition of economic growth and of extended logistical reach and transport is seen as a necessary and inevitable consequence of the development. But the relationship between transport and economic growth is somehow mediated the restructuring of

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Citation Excerpt :
The results indicate that the GWP GROWTH is not significant in the long-term. As for the short-term, we can conclude that although logistics service providers are supposed to depend on the general economic developments (cf. Gao et al., 2016; Nielsen et al., 2003), these developments do not influence the transaction performance of the industry as a whole. Consequently, we have to reject hypothesis H2 in the short-term and in the long-term.
Logistic service providers are facing significant challenges in recent years due to intensified competition and ever-increasing customer expectations for cohesive high-standard services at low cost. To cope with these developments many companies aim for external growth to realize operational efficiencies and exploit productive opportunities of new markets and diversified services. Accordingly, 2015 has even become the most active year for mergers and acquisitions in logistic service industry. However, studies examining the post-merger performance effect and its determinants are scarce. Consequently, this paper takes up this issue by analysing a sample of 826 transaction announcements taken place between 1996 and 2015 and their performance effect in terms of short- and long-term abnormal shareholder returns. The results reveal, that although overall transactions exhibit significant positive abnormal returns, post-merger performance for the acquiring companies differs considerably according to the logistic services offered. In the short-term trucking, railway, 3PL and air cargo companies experience significant positive abnormal returns of about 0.6%–2.6%, while sea freight carriers realize only marginal effects and CEP companies do even not show any significant reaction. In the long-term, railway and 3PL companies realize a significant abnormal return of about 20%–24%, while trucking, sea freight and air cargo carriers do not exhibit significant returns and CEP companies do even experience significant losses of about −17%. Overall, diversifying transactions of established full-service providers outperform focus-increasing transactions of specialized operators.
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View full text

Freight transport growth––a theoretical and methodological framework

Abstract

Section snippets

Logistical principles and transport

Analytical approach

Construction of a themed interview guide

Summary and perspectives

The well-travelled yoghurt pot: Lessons for new freight transport policies and regional production

World Transport––Policy & Practice

The Information Age

European Logistics––Markets, Management and Strategy

Creating the Sustainable Supply Chain: Modelling the Key Relationships

Time and space in freight transport