Research Project:

Determining the Costs of Truck Transit Delays for Shippers of Freight: An Exploratory Study

Principal Investigator

Mike Crum
Iowa State University
(515) 294-8105
mcrum@iastate.edu

Project Objective

To develop a shipper freight transportation cost model, the application of web-based interactive conjoint software for data collection, and an estimate of transit delay costs (both expected and unexpected) for a small sample of shippers, and to discuss how the methodology developed in this study can be used to determine aggregate transit delay costs in any transportation corridor.

Project Abstract

Knowledge of truck transit delay costs is important to transportation policy makers. There are problems with the traditional means for estimating these costs, however, as they typically focus on the operating and capital costs for the carriers and the in-transit inventory costs for the shippers. Many shipper costs are not captured by these approaches (e.g., cost of lost sales, cost of production delays, etc.). The primary purpose of this project is to explore and demonstrate the applicability of conjoint analysis for determining the cost of truck transit delays for shippers of freight, or conversely, the value of avoiding transit delays for shippers.

Task Descriptions, Milestone, and Dates

Project Organization (March 2005)
Specify General Model (June 2005)
Prepare a Pre-Test of the Sawtooth Survey (June 2005)
Identify Potential Sample Firms (June 2005)
Contact Sample Firms (July 2005)
Sample Firm Follow-Up (August 2005)
Analyze Data (August 2005)
Draft the Final Report (September 2005)

Student Involvement (e.g., Thesis, Assistantships, Paid Employment)

None

Relationship to Other Projects

None

Technology Transfer Activities

The final report and other materials will be distributed or made accessible to other in and out of state agencies as appropriate.

Potential Benefits of the Project

Conjoint analysis, sometimes referred to as “trade-off analysis,” is most frequently used to assess the relative importance/value of different product and service characteristics in consumer purchase decisions. The model entails presenting consumers with different product or service options, each of which has a different mix or level of product/service characteristics. The consumers rank order each option. The conjoint model predicts what products or services people will prefer and assesses the weight people give to various factors. This project will use transit time and unexpected transit delays as the service attributes included in the scenarios, and will explore and demonstrate the applicability of conjoint analysis for determining the cost of truck transit delays for shippers of freight, or conversely, the value of avoiding transit delays for shippers.

Budget

$15,056 MTC/ $15,056 Cost Share (7-month project)

TRB Keywords

Shipper, Truck Freight, Freight Cost, Inventory Cost, Delay, Delay Cost, Cost Avoidance, Conjoint Analysis, Trade-off Analysis, Service Characteristics, Sawtooth Survey, Consumer Decision, Consumer Preference