Perceived Value of Time for Truck Operators

Value of time for trucks was estimated from stated preference data collected in California. Truckers were asked about a choice between an existing free road versus a toll facility for different combinations of travel time and cost. Estimation was based on the point of diversion at which the switch of facility occurred in the stated preference questions and also on the use of a modified logit model in which the coefficients to be estimated were assumed to be distributed lognormally across the population. Comparisons between data sets that were segmented according to business type, shipment size, and the method of driver compensation indicated that for-hire trucks tend to have higher values of time than private ones and the companies that pay drivers hourly wages have higher values of time than those who pay commissions or fixed salary.