Using Blockchain Technology to Foster Collaboration among Shippers and Carriers in the Trucking Industry: A Design Science Research Approach

In the global trucking industry, vertical collaboration between shippers and carriers is attained by intermediaries, called brokers. Brokers organize carriers for a shipper in accordance with its quality and price requirements, and support carriers to collaborate horizontally by sharing a large distribution order from a shipper. Brokers also act as trustees, preventing the passing of private information of any party to the others. Despite these benefits, intermediaries in the trucking industry are involved in several sustainability problems, including high costs, high levels of carbon emissions, high percentages of empty miles, low-capacity utilizations, and driver shortages. Several studies have acknowledged the importance of improving collaboration to address these problems. Obviously, the major concern of brokers is not collaboration, but rather to optimize their own gains. This paper investigates the potential of blockchain technology to improve collaboration in the trucking industry, by eliminating brokers while preserving their responsibilities as organizers and trustees. This paper extends the transportation control tower concept from the logistics literature, and presents a system architecture for its implementation through smart contracts on a blockchain network. In the proposed system, the scalability and privacy of trucking operations are ensured through integration with privacy-preserving off-chain computation and storage solutions (running outside of the blockchain). The potential of this design artifact for fostering collaboration in the trucking industry was evaluated by both blockchain technology experts and trucking industry professionals.

Punjabi Immigrant Women In The GTA Truck Industry: A Case Study

The main purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the growing phenomenon of Punjabi immigrant women from the GTA entering the male dominated trucking industry. In particular, this study aimed to explore the factors that enabled immigrant women to enter a nontraditional occupation and to examine the role of social capital in impacting their labour market outcomes. By interviewing 8 Punjabi immigrant women who have experienced driving a truck, the results of the study showed that living in an extended family household and the support of spouses played a major role in facilitating entry into the truck industry. Furthermore, the accumulation of social capital within Punjabi ethnic enclave communities also enabled women to enter trucking. Drawing on existing literature and government publications concerning the trucking industry, this study also helps to illustrate how immigrant populations become significant actors within particular industries, in this case, the GTA’s trucking industry.

Punjabi Immigrant Women In The GTA Truck Industry: A Case Study

The main purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the growing phenomenon of Punjabi immigrant women from the GTA entering the male dominated trucking industry. In particular, this study aimed to explore the factors that enabled immigrant women to enter a nontraditional occupation and to examine the role of social capital in impacting their labour market outcomes. By interviewing 8 Punjabi immigrant women who have experienced driving a truck, the results of the study showed that living in an extended family household and the support of spouses played a major role in facilitating entry into the truck industry. Furthermore, the accumulation of social capital within Punjabi ethnic enclave communities also enabled women to enter trucking. Drawing on existing literature and government publications concerning the trucking industry, this study also helps to illustrate how immigrant populations become significant actors within particular industries, in this case, the GTA’s trucking industry.

Pay Volatility and Employee Turnover in the Trucking Industry

Many organizations have turned to “just-in-time” pay systems to manage fluctuations in demand for products and services. For example, the trucking industry commonly pays truck drivers by the mile, and retail organizations fluctuate hours available to work to align with holiday demand. Based on the Unfolding Model of Turnover, we propose that the pay volatility, that is, fluctuations in individual pay over time, created by such systems create shocks that initiate thoughts of leaving the organization. We propose that these thoughts increase turnover likelihood. We also propose that pay level and pay trajectory moderate the pay volatility and turnover relationship. Based on a large dataset containing information on objective pay and turnover for truck drivers over a period of 34 weeks, the results of this study support the role of pay volatility, pay level, and pay trajectory in affecting voluntary turnover. Specifically, the results show that all three factors predict turnover likelihood and that pay volatility and pay level interact to predict turnover likelihood. The findings indicate that pay volatility has organizational downsides due to its effects on employee turnover in addition to its known upsides (i.e., flexibility).