E-Commerce and the Efficiency of the California Freight
Network: Perspectives of Shippers, Carriers and Third Party Logistics and
Information Services Providers
Tom Golob and Amelia Regan, Institute of Transportation Studies, Irvine
Manufacturing and distribution systems have undergone
significant changes in recent years; "just-in-time" production and
distribution systems have led to an increase in the number of time-sensitive
freight movements. Time-definite services and regular updates on the status of en-route
shipments are expected of many shippers. Additionally, freight movements take
place in smaller units, increasing overall freight movements. This study
extended an earlier study of the trucking industry in California by focusing on
the impacts of shipper decisions on performance of the highway transportation
system.
We examined how the trucking and third party logistics industry was evolving and much to our surprise and then developed several mathematical models that can be applied to make contracting in the trucking more efficient.
This paper has a section on Freight and CVO in which we examine the
impacts of IT on shippers, carriers and 3PLs.
Golob,
T.F. and A.C.
Regan (2002), The Perceived Usefulness of Different Sources of Traffic
Information to Trucking Operations, Transportation Research Part E, Logistics
and Transportation Review, 38 (2),
pp. 97-116.
This paper looks at the perceived usefulness of various
information on traffic conditions to trucking companies and truckers.
Wang, C. and A.C. Regan (2003), Risks and Prevention
Measures in Logistics Outsourcing, proceedings of the 82nd meeting of the
Transportation Research Board.
This paper examines outsourcing of logistics
activities to 3PLs. It makes
recommendations about how to protect a company from some of the disasters that
can arise out of outsourcing activities.
We synthesized literature across industries and interviewed a local
company that had nearly been shut down due to problems with its outsourcing.
This paper is a more polished, version of the paper
we published in the TRB proceedings.
Song, J. and A.C. Regan (2003), Approximation Algorithms for the Bid Valuation and Structuring Problem in Combinatorial Auctions for the Procurement of Freight Transportation Contracts, Transportation Research, Part B, Methodological, under review.
After examining changes in the industries triggered by technology, we developed a solution which should make the trucking industry better able to bid in web-based combinatorial auctions. These auctions represent the wave of the future in transportation contracting.
This paper develops a method for making small trucking companies run effectively but using a web-based load trading network. We design the network, examine its economic efficiency and then discuss the underlying optimization problems that must be solved in order to make it work.
Golob, T.F. and A.C. Regan (2003), Traffic
Congestion and Trucking Managers’ Demand for Routing and Scheduling Software, Transportation
Research, Part E, Logistics and Transportation Review, 39 (1), pp.
69-73.
This paper uses survey data to examine which
companies are adopting routing and scheduling software and why or why not they
find this software useful. This
research is aimed at helping software developers better understand the needs of
their customers. (There are literally
hundreds of related software packages but relatively light market penetration.)
Conferences Attended:
TRB 2001, 2002, INFORMS 2002
Percent Complete:
100%, though we are still producing additional related papers.
Direct Cost:
$65,826