Challenges in extending sustainability across a transport supply chain

Purpose Sustainability approaches across product supply chains are well-known, while similar knowledge on transport supply chains (TSC) is limited. The purpose of this paper is to explore sustainability approaches and managerial challenges in extending sustainability across a TSC. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents a case study of a TSC with a shipper, a third-party logistics firm and a hauler. Each actor’s views on sustainability-related communication and relations with other TSC actors are analyzed through the lens of agency theory. Findings Each dyad in the TSC reveals different, more or less collaboration-based approaches. Challenges are revealed, including the lack of shipper understanding for the TSC context and the use of immature contracts, which disincentivizes sustainability compliance. The multi-tier study object reveals the silencing of distant actors and the need for actors to take on mediating roles to bridge information asymmetries. Research limitations/implications Combining literature perspectives (relations, communication and agency theory) provides a deeper understanding of the approaches applied and identifies different challenges. The inclusion of agency theory reveals principal problems such as information asymmetries between agents and less-informed principals and suggests complementary labels of supply chain actors. Practical implications Practical contributions include the highlighting of managerial challenges, which can aid managers in extending sustainability across TCSs. Social implications The case study method offers insights into collaboratively improving sustainability in supply chains (such as using contracts), thus having social and environmental implications. Originality/value The paper narrows knowledge gaps about managing sustainability among logistics service providers and analyzes data from multi-tier actors.

Measuring Changes in Multimodal Travel Behavior Resulting from Transport Supply Improvement

Despite the desired transition toward sustainable and multimodal mobility, few tools have been developed either to quantify mode use diversity or to assess the effects of transportation system enhancements on multimodal travel behaviors. This paper attempts to fill this gap by proposing a methodology to appraise the causal impact of transport supply improvement on the evolution of multimodality levels between 2013 and 2018 in Montreal (Quebec, Canada). First, the participants of two household travel surveys were clustered into types of people (PeTys) to overcome the cross-sectional nature of the data. This allowed changes in travel behavior per type over a five-year period to be evaluated. A variant of the Dalton index was then applied on a series of aggregated (weighted) intensities of use of several modes to measure multimodality. Various sensitivity analyses were carried out to determine the parameters of this indicator (sensitivity to the least used modes, intensity metric, and mode independency). Finally, a difference-in-differences causal inference approach was explored to model the influence of the improvement of three alternative transport services (transit, bikesharing, and station-based carsharing) on the evolution of modal variability by type of people. The results revealed that, after controlling for different socio-demographic and spatial attributes, increasing transport supply had a significant and positive impact on multimodality. This outcome is therefore good news for the mobility of the future as alternative modes of transport emerge.

Streamlining possibility of transport-supply logistics when using chosen Operations Research techniques

The subject of this article is to model and streamline processes in the area of the transport-supply logistics in a specific enterprise. The topic of the manuscript was implemented in a particular enterprise with the residence in the city of České Budějovice (South Bohemia region). The aim of the article is to step by step analyze the current state of the supply logistics of the specific subject and propose appropriate measures contributing to optimize the entire process using selected techniques of the Operations Research. By applying the methods of multi-criteria decision analysis (such as Weighted Sum Approach and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution), the most attractive option is chosen; i.e. the optimal supplier for the implementation of the transport-supply process that will enhance the effectiveness of specific logistics activities in the operation being examined. The conclusion in detail discusses individual contributions in terms of the suggested ways of modeling and improving the current state with respect to supply processes in the selected enterprise.

Study on the Equilibrium Discriminant Model of Urban Agglomeration Transport Supply and Demand Structure

In order to study the adaptability of urban agglomeration transport supply and demand structure, and to provide the basis for decision-makers when optimizing the structure of transport supply and demand in urban agglomeration, this paper proposed and verified a structure equilibrium theory on the basis of entropy theory. Firstly, based on the analysis of the influencing factors, an urban agglomeration transport demand structure model was established using entropy theory. Secondly, according to the actual passenger and freight turnover of urban agglomeration, a transport supply structure model was proposed with entropy theory. Then, by comparing the two entropy models, the equilibrium state of an urban agglomeration transport structure was analyzed. Finally, HuBaoOr urban agglomeration was taken as an example to verify the science and effectiveness of this discriminant model. The research in this paper lays a theoretical foundation for the achievement of urban agglomeration transport equilibrium structure and for realizing the best economic benefits and social benefits.