Reducing waste in transport operations

HENRIK STERNBERG AND KENT LUMSDEN, CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SWEDEN
Abstract: Road transportation is economically and environmentally inefficient in both developed and developing countries. Due to the heavy environmental and societal impact of road transportation, it is necessary to encourage the improvement of efficiency in road transport. A group facing increasing pressure and extensive waste in their operations is motor carrier operators. A major part of the literature on the subject of road transport operations either proposes an advanced transport route and network optimisation models or advanced leading edge technology as solutions to overcome the prevalent waste, but those solutions are not feasible to the motor carrier operators in developing countries or small operators in developed countries. The challenge is to reduce waste in their operations, primarily without investing in new technology. The ongoing study underlying this paper was inspired by the way Japanese automotive manufacturers managed to reduce operational waste and be competitive using less material and less equipment then their competitors outside Japan. The data in this paper is based on an interview study and one in-depth study of a carrier improvement programme. This paper sets out to outline a model for waste reduction without adding new technology.
Keywords: transportation; inter-modal; information sharing; information systems; environment; smart freight.

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