Ohio Motor-Carrier Preferences for Intelligent Transportation Systems/Commercial Vehicle Operations Innovations

The results of a survey sent to 400 motor carriers registered with the Ohio Trucking Association are reported. The survey was designed to lend insight on motor-carrier preferences for seven innovations of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) that deal with the interface between government agencies and commercial vehicle operators. A rating scale was used and interpreted in such a way that it allowed for more meaningful and theoretically acceptable analyses than have been seen to date in the field of ITS/commercial vehicle operations (CVO). The 93 responses to the survey showed a marked preference for the innovations. The respondents preferred innovations facilitating application processes to those reducing en route time. Within the category of application processes they preferred one-stop operations to electronic data interchange concepts. Within the one-stop operations category they preferred the model most difficult to implement from an institutional perspective, one in which the government agencies would consolidate their authority in a single motor-carrier agency. The results did not depend on the size of the carrier or on the carrier's status as private or for-hire. The importance and limitations of these findings are discussed, as well as why they are surprising.