Themes and challenges in making freight Transport sustainable: A logistics service providers’ perspective

Maisam Abbasi and Fredrik Nilsson

No 207087, 53rd Annual Transportation Research Forum, Tampa, Florida, March 15-17, 2012 from Transportation Research Forum

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to explore themes and challenges in making freight transport sustainable out of a logistics service providers’ perspective. The approach is explorative and the main method for data collection is interviews. The study has a cross sectional design which takes advantage of nine semi-structured interviews from selected logistics service providers operating in the Scandinavian countries. Our findings illustrate the major themes of sustainable freight transport, by analyses of current as well as future activities, in perspective of nine interviewed logistics service providers. In addition, the patterns of current and probable emerging challenges for developing sustainable freight transport were discovered. It is concluded that there is great need for a holistic perspective where logistics service providers and product owners together analyse and design future freight transport set-ups. The analysis of complex interactions among LSPs and other actors of supply chains provide several opportunities for future research. The results offered in this paper provide a systematic structure for classifying issues related to sustainable freight transport; something which will be beneficial for managers and policymakers when they approach sustainable supply chain management challenges. Syntheses and discovery of themes and challenges of making freight transport sustainable are critical for a sustainable society. This paper combines the results from interviews with a thorough review of related articles and homepages. The study ends with research propositions contributing to the further advancement of supply chain sustainability and management.

Keywords: Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; Research Methods/Statistical Methods; Resource/Energy Economics and Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 16
Date: 2012-03
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:ndtr12:207087

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.207087

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