Microeconomic determinants of dry bulk shipping freight rates and contract times

While the literature has established macroeconomic determinants of shipping freight (charter) rates, there has been no systematic investigation of the microeconomic determinants of shipping freight rates. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate microeconomic determinants of freight rates in the dry bulk shipping market, using a large sample of individual dry bulk charter contracts from January 2003 to July 2009. Differences in freight rates across major dry bulk shipping routes, the geographical distribution of shipping activities around the world, and the duration of the laycan period of shipping contracts are also investigated. Estimated results suggest that the laycan period and dry bulk freight rates are interrelated and determined simultaneously. Furthermore, vessel deadweight, age and voyage routes are important determinants of dry bulk shipping freight rates, while determinants of the laycan period of chartered vessels include vessel age, freight rate level, and freight rate volatility.     

Freight Data Assembling and Modeling: Methodologies and Practice

Abstract

In comparison to personal travel, freight movements within large metropolitan areas are much less studied. Most conventional transportation models and planning analysis that disregarded freight flows have been criticized on the plausibility of their results and conclusions. To alleviate these problems, this study proposes a non-survey based approach to assemble and process freight data in a systematic way. A freight origin–destination (OD) matrix of freight flows can be developed using secondary data sources. The estimated freight flows can be loaded together with conventional passenger flows onto the regional highway network of a large metropolitan area. As a case study, this non-survey based approach was applied to build a freight OD and study the traffic flows in Los Angeles. It concluded that this approach can be used to analyze urban freight movement in a low-cost way in which planning agencies can overcome the common omission of freight flow information in their transportation plans.     

道路货物网络化运输的服务类别和发展模式

基于我国道路货物运输的发展现状,以探索推行道路货物运输网络化的发展模式为主线,以提高道路货物运输组织效率和行业发展水平为最终目标,阐述道路货物网络化运输的概念及内涵,对网络化运输服务进行了划分,构建了我国推行道路货物网络化运输的两类发展模式,并利用图示和文字结合的方式对其进行了分析评价。     

Investigation of carriers’ ability to transfer toll increases: an empirical analysis of freight agents’ relative market power

Transportation - Design of effective freight policies requires a comprehensive understanding of freight agents’ interactions. A critical component of the interaction is the freight...     

Impacts of information technology and urbanization on less-than-truckload freight flows in China: An analysis considering spatial effects

Understanding the relationship between socioeconomic factors and the Less-than-Truckload (LTL) freight flows is important for transportation planners and policy makers. This paper explores the impacts of information technology, urbanization on LTL freight flows by using a spatial autocorrelation model with freight flow data from a leading LTL company in China. The results show that all IT variables and urbanization variables have positive effects on freight flows. Distance, as expected, is negatively correlated with the freight flow volume. The application of the spatial autocorrelation model further shows that origin dependence, destination dependence and OD dependence are all significant, justifying the consideration of spatial interdependence. Finally, policy implications are discussed based on the estimated results. These findings shed light on the impacts of internet and urbanization on freight transportation, and contribute to the design of freight policies and the development of the LTL industry.     

A zone design methodology for national freight origin–destination data and transportation modeling

The zone system used for freight data collection and the geographic resolution of published data has a significant impact on analysis and planning. The majority of existing freight model zones are created in an ad hoc way. In this paper, a new model-based design method is introduced to develop freight zones for the continental USA. It focuses on two methodology issues: (1) the criteria that represent the desired properties of a zone system and (2) the constraints that govern the shape, size, and continuity of zones. The method is applied to the continental USA by optimizing an interzonal travel distance weighted by freight flows using county-level freight data. Several optimal national-level freight zone systems with different numbers of zones are developed. The results indicate that a 300-zone system provides a balance between the number of zones and optimization measures where the currently available public freight data are provided with approximately 100 zones.     

Exchange rate and transport cost sensitivities of bilateral freight flows between the US and China

This paper explores the long-run impacts of gross domestic product, exchange rate, and transport costs on bilateral air and ocean freight flows between the US and China. The study employs a cointegration framework by using export and import data over the period of 2003:Q1-2014:Q2. Results show that gross domestic product is the key determinant of bilateral freight flows, indicating that real income of a trading partner is a driving force of the bilateral freight flows between the US and China. In examining the sensitivities of the bilateral trade flows, air freight flows are found to be more responsive to a real income change than ocean freight flows. The bilateral exchange rate is a significant factor affecting the freight flows from China to the US, suggesting that a US dollar appreciation against the Chinese yuan increases the inflows of Chinese commodities to the US. The impacts of the bilateral exchange rate and transport cost are found to vary at industry and commodity levels. These findings support the importance of employing disaggregate data in the bilateral freight flow analysis.     

Rail freight efficiency and competitiveness in Australia

In 1994/95, the Australian rail freight task was approximately 100 billion tonne kilometres (btkm). This freight task included some 37 btkm for the haulage of iron ore in Western Australia, 28 btkm for coal haulage in Queensland and New South Wales and about 16 btkm for interstate rail freight. This paper mainly concerns how improvements can be made to the efficiency and competitiveness of interstate rail freight services through the upgrading of sections of mainline track that currently have severe speed‐weight restrictions. Recent improvements in rail freight efficiency are discussed, with emphasis on two indicators: average unit revenues (cents per net tonne km), and average energy efficiency (net tonne km per MJ). Rail freight efficiency is high for the Western Australia iron‐ore operations, Queensland coal operations and Adelaide‐Perth general freight operations. However, between Australia's three largest cities of Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, some 36% of the mainline track fails to meet basic fast freight train standards with a ruling grade of 1 in 66 and no curve radius less than 800 m. The contraints on efficient rail freight operations imposed by severe terrain, and how the effects of terrain may be reduced by improved track alignment, are discussed. Some economically warranted rail track investment measures are outlined, including those identified for a National Transport Planning Taskforce. These measures have the potential to reduce liquid fuel use by over 250 million litres a year. Factors affecting competitive neutrality between road and rail freight that are outside of the present scope of Australia's National Competition Policy are broadly considered. These factors include the extensive upgrading of the National Highway System with full Federal funding, and low levels of road cost recovery from heavy trucks operating over long distances.     

西部地区公路货运周转量可拓聚类预测

文章以可拓聚类的原理和一般预测过程为依据,结合我国西部地区公路货运周转量预测的特点,在分析国外先进经验的基础上,完成对西部地区公路货运周转量的预测。基于GDP和进出口总额的公路货运周转量可拓聚类预测,以区间的形式表示。可以相对减少对单纯点的数值预测的局限性和误差,当给定一个未来环境因素时,可以判定出公路货运周转量变化的类型,从而预测未来公路货运周转量的变化范围,得到预测结果是可行的。     

Integrated modeling of high performance passenger and freight train planning on shared-use corridors in the US

This paper studies strategic level train planning for high performance passenger and freight train operations on shared-use corridors in the US. We develop a hypergraph-based, two-level approach to sequentially minimize passenger and freight costs while scheduling train services. Passenger schedule delay and freight lost demand are explicitly modeled. We explore different solution strategies and conclude that a problem-tailored linearized reformulation yields superior computational performance. Using realistic parameter values, our numerical experiments show that passenger cost due to schedule delay is comparable to in-vehicle travel time cost and rail fare. In most cases, marginal freight cost increase from scheduling more passenger trains is higher than marginal reduction in passenger schedule delay cost. The heterogeneity of train speed reduces the number of freight trains that can run on a corridor. Greater tolerance for delays could reduce lost demand and overall cost on the freight side. The approach developed in the paper could be applied to other scenarios with different parameter values.     

Incorporating Logistics in Freight Transport Demand Models: State-of-the-Art and Research Opportunities

Freight transport demand is a demand derived from all the activities needed to move goods between locations of production to locations of consumption, including trade, logistics and transportation. A good representation of logistics in freight transport demand models allows us to predict the effects of changes in logistics systems on future transport flows. As such it provides better estimations of the costs of interaction and allows to predict changes in spatial patterns of freight transport flows more accurately. In recent years, the attention for freight modelling has been growing and new research work has appeared aimed at incorporating logistics in freight models. In this paper we review the state of the art in the representation of logistics considerations in freight transport demand models. Our focus is on the service and cost drivers of changes in logistics networks and how these affect freight transport. Our review proceeds along a conceptual framework for modelling that goes beyond the conventional 4-step modelling approach. We identify promising areas for freight modelling that have an integrative function within this framework, such as spatial computable general equilibrium models, supply chain choice models and hypernetwork models.     

广西道路货物运输安全管理对策研究

文章介绍了当前广西道路货物运输行业的基本情况,阐述了广西道路货物运输安全生产存在的主要问题,并从行政管理和企业管理的角度,提出了切合广西道路货物运输行业实际的安全管理措施。     

The impact of collaborative backhaul routing on carbon reduction in the freight industry

The study investigates a practical freight carrier collaboration problem in a carbon-constrained business context. It examines to see if collaboration between carriers can reduce the environmental issues of freight movement. The introduction of carbon credit systems will stimulate freight carriers to decide whether it should trade carbon credits with its collaborators. This issue is examined by formulating the problem as a two-stage stochastic program to minimize the joint emission of the carriers while meeting their service commitments. The collaborative model developed can reduce emissions across a freight network by 3–20%.     

Impacts of combining partial and general equilibrium modelling in freight transport analyses – a forest sector case study from Norway

Abstract

The forest sector in Norway is very transport intensive, accounting for approximately 14% of total domestic freight transport traffic on Norwegian roads. This paper presents an analysis linking a general equilibrium freight transport modelling tool with a partial equilibrium model of the forest sector. The freight transport model predicts transport costs, modal split and transport patterns, and the results are treated as inputs to the forest sector model. The objective of the paper is to analyse the modelling effect of taking forest sector model effects back into the freight transport model and treated as new demand. Compared to a base scenario for the year 2020, we compare analyses with and without this new demand from the forest sector model back into the freight transport modelling tool.     

Rail-truck multimodal freight collaboration: a statistical analysis of freight-shipper perspectives

Due to the effects of congestion, capacity reduction of truck-freight carriers, growing freight transportation demand, and increasing social and environmental concerns, there is a critical need for freight shippers to improve shipping quality and reduce transportation costs. Rail-truck multimodal freight collaboration can potentially address this need. In this study, we explore freight-shipper perspectives relating to the factors that may foster or impede their usage of rail-truck multimodal freight collaboration services, and the correlations of their operational and behavioral characteristics with these factors. The study provides insights to rail and truck carriers on collaboration mechanisms that can address the needs of freight shippers, including adopting synergistic technology to improve in-transit visibility, accommodating non-containerized cargo, improving the transshipment process, designing service quality control strategies, and constructing investment and revenue-sharing plans.     

Evaluation of Rail Freight Facilities Grant Funding in Britain

Abstract

Rail freight has been generally in decline in many European Union countries in recent years, contrary to European transport policy. State support for railway operations is commonplace in most countries, and this paper establishes the background to targeted rail freight grant funding in Britain. Through desk‐based analysis of Freight Facilities Grant (FFG) awards, together with a survey of recipient companies, the paper assesses the extent to which the planned flows expected from these awards have materialized and it evaluates the role of the grants in influencing rail freight volumes. The evidence suggests that FFG funding has been largely successful, attracting considerable private sector investment. Overall, FFGs have played an important role in developing or retaining rail freight flows, although the processes could be made more transparent and consistent. As other European countries liberalize their rail freight markets as a result of European Union legislation, such targeted funding may be an appropriate alternative to more general government subsidy of freight operations.     

The impact of terminal handling charges on overall shipping charges: an empirical study

Before the introduction of terminal handling charges (THCs), traditional freight rates included both ocean freight charges and terminal charges at ports. Since the introduction of THCs in 1991, the freight rate has become a “port-to-port” charge that covers only the sea leg, while the on-shore costs of using the container terminals are charged separately as THCs. Although both THCs and freight rates are collectively set by conferences, in this study we argue that the former are easier to enforce because they are invariant to other attributes such as haulage distance, inland transport services and types of commodity being shipped. This argument is consistent with the empirical findings from this study that suggest the separation of ocean freight rates from terminal charges has increased the overall shipping charges. In addition, we find that THCs affect the Hong Kong container handling industry by lowering its throughput.     

Stochastic freight flow patterns: implications for fleet optimization

Trucking, rail and other types of transportation networks share the common feature of moving equipment and crews between spatially separated terminals to accommodate the transportation of goods or people. This paper develops measures for temporal and spatial imbalances in freight flows, and applies these measures to a major trucking network. Fundamentally, the randomness inherent to a system of terminals is mitigated by pooling freight flows among terminal groups, and by pooling freight flows over many time periods. In the terminal network that we examined, long-run freight imbalances ensure that empty equipment movements must equal or exceed 13.3% of loaded movements at individual terminals and 8.2% of loaded movements at terminal groups. Due to short-run freight imbalances, the number of empty movements could increase by about 50% over the long-run average; greater increases would occur if equipment flows must be balanced on each travel lane. ©     

Migration of railway freight transport from command economy to market economy: The case of China

In recent years, Chinese railway freight transport has been facing great challenges from transport market reformation and economic expansion. Although the total volume of railway freight has been increasing, its market share has decreased greatly, especially at the beginning of migration from command economy to market economy. This paper considers four aspects believed to be responsible for the loss of the railway freight market share. First, we review the history and current situation of the Chinese railway freight transport and study the relationship between economic development and freight transport in China. Second, the causes resulting in the loss of the market share of railway freight are analysed in detail. Third, the current measures taken by Chinese Railways (CR) to restore its competitiveness are discussed. The effects of these measures on railway traffic volume, market share and productivity are also studied. Finally, the way forward for the future of CR is discussed. It is concluded that CR has not yet adapted sufficiently to new economic conditions, although in recent years progress has been made. Further reform will be needed.     

Challenges raised by freight for the operations planning of a shared-use rail network. A French perspective

Operating rail infrastructures that are shared among different uses is complex. In Western Europe, the predominance of passenger traffic over freight has traditionally led to thorough scheduling of capacity use, with an increasing tendency to anticipate through the design of regular-interval timetables. The paper discusses the specific challenges posed by fitting freight into the timetabling process for a mixed-use rail network, based on current French experience. The analysis is carried out from the perspective of the infrastructure manager. It is mainly supported by the results of a series of about 30 interviews, carried out in 2012 and 2013 with the parties involved in the timetabling process. The paper provides a comprehensive understanding of the process in terms of organization, rules and practices, with an emphasis on the characteristics of freight traffic compared with passenger traffic. The author highlights three key management issues for the French infrastructure manager when dealing with freight: (1) the uncertainty surrounding the mid-long term development of the rail freight market at the national level; (2) the heterogeneity resulting from the diversity of commodities, convoys and profiles and behaviors of the capacity applicants; (3) the volatility of some freight traffic resulting in a great amount of activity in the later stages of the timetabling process. If uncertainty about the future appears to be a highly sensitive issue in the French context, heterogeneity and volatility of freight traffic can be perceived as management challenges that may be experienced, to a greater or lesser degree, on other rail networks.