Emerging organizational values in shipping: Part 4. Decentralization—the redefinition of authority in shipping company organization

Decentralization is a major theme of organizational change in shipping. It is often seen as 'putting power back aboard ship'. However, the authors argue that this view is too simple. Decentralization poses fundamental questions about the entire management structure of the shipping company. The redistribution of authority necessary for decentralization is discussed in terms of the company organization structure.     

Dynamics of Pneumatic Tire Vehicles with Connected Suspension Systems

A vehicle model, with 10 degrees of freedom is used to investigate the skidding conditions of any wheel of the vehicle in motion. Equations for the load transfer and equations for the pneumatic tire spring and shock absorber are derived. Parameters such as gradual cornering, U-curve cornering, the wavy road surface of different wave lengths and cases of independent and connected suspension systems are inputs to the system. The tire calculated forces and their corresponding maximum resistance forces are the outputs of the systems. A connected suspension system is found to resist skidding better than the independent suspension system. The system is non-linear, and numerical solutions are obtained.     

Optimal Design of Running Gears Part I. Theory

A survey is given of the theory developed by author during recent years for an optimal design of railway vehicle running gears. It enables the designer to build a running gear which at the same time has good curving properties and is stable up to a high vehicle speed.     

Testing and Analysis Techniques for Safety Assessment of Rail Vehicles: The State-of-the-Art

The methods currently being used in North America, Britain and Europe for the safety assessment of rail vehicles are discussed. There is considerable disparity between the methods that have been developed in the different countries. These differences, and the possible reasons for them, are discussed in the paper. Finally, conclusions are drawn and some recommendations are made for the future direction of safety assessment methods.     

A repeated cross-sectional evaluation of car ownership

This paper studies changes in the relationship between household car ownership and income by household type. Ordered response probit models of car ownership are estimated for a sample of households repeatedly at six time points to track the evolution of income elasticities of car ownership over time. Elasticities of car ownership are found to change over time, questioning the existence of a unique equilibrium point between demand and supply that is implicitly assumed in traditional cross-sectional discrete choice car ownership models. Moreover, different household types and households that underwent household type transitions showed differing patterns of change in elasticities. Observed trends in car ownership and income clearly show behavioral asymmetry where the elasticity of procuring an additional car is greater than that of disposing a car. This too shows the inadequacy of traditional cross-sectional models of car ownership which tend to predict symmetry in behavior. The study suggests the importance of incorporating dynamic trends into the forecasting process, which can be accomplished through the use of longitudinal data.     

Alternative systems for urban transport in India

This paper is in the context of studying alternative systems of urban transport in India to determine the costs and performance not only for public transport systems but also for the total transport scenario (i.e. for all vehicles) such that the economic costs are inclusive of costs of time (conservatively), accidents and pollution. In view of inherent deficiencies and delays associated with a traditional transport planning process and its implementation, the paper develops quick response land-use transport planning models for Indian cities to enable integrated, cost-efficient strategies to be evolved, recognizing that urban transport is a function of urban size, form, structure, socio-economic base, etc. A simple statistically significant demand model identified from a basis of appropriate data represents the recommended demand model for Indian cities. This model can be then conveniently used to project trip volume for any Indian city in a future year. A simple gravity model is used to generate the trip assignment for hypothesized city sizes, forms and structures. The results provide a fairly reasonable approximation for the major corridor trip volumes and lengths in the context of the transport requirement for the metropolitan cities in India in 2001 and 2011 A.D. The GOI Study Group arising from the investigations reported in this paper and the discounted cash-flow method of analysis made clear overall recommendations in February 1987 for cities of various populations.     

Policy innovations of the US intermodal surface transportation efficiency act and clean air act amendments

In combination, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) and the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA) are innovative and aggressive efforts to move US cities toward integrated transportation and air quality planning. Under these complementary laws, air quality has become a major national transportation goal. In areas with serious air pollution, air quality will be a major consideration in determining the future shape of urban transportation.This paper considers how the CAAA and ISTEA combine to provide an innovative national policy approach of interest to countries seeking to encourage sustainable development in urban centers. The CAAA mandates measurable and enforceable air quality targets. Nation-wide standards are set for acceptable levels of carbon monoxide, ground level ozone, and small particulates. ISTEA includes directions for transportation planners and decision-makers to follow to reach air quality and other goals — transportation planning must emphasize system efficiency, and for cities with severe air pollution, transportation projects are expected to contribute to cleaner air. Each urban area has flexibility in how it applies this framework to reflect its priorities and solve its problems. Strict federal sanctions provide incentives for compliance with both laws.Enactment of these laws has produced a period of transition and uncertainty as well as of challenge and opportunity for planners and elected officials. The next several years, the US will provide one national laboratory and over 100 different urban laboratories for innovative approaches to integrate transportation and environmental policies to resolve major urban problems.Abbreviations CAAA Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 - CO Carbon monoxide - ECO Employee Commute Option - EPA US Environmental Protection Agency - HC Transportation hydrocarbons - I/M Inspections and maintenance program - ISTEA Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 - MPO Metropolitan planning organizations - NO_x Nitrogen oxides - PPM Parts per million - PM₁₀ Small particulate matter - SIP State Implementation Plan - TIP Transportation Improvement Program - TCM Transportation control measures - VMT Vehicle miles traveled     

The growth of fleets registered in the newly-emerging maritime countries and maritime crises

This paper suggests the existence of a feedback relationship between the dynamic entrance of less-developed countries in shipping and the prolongation and deepening of maritime crises. The duration and extent of the transitional period of crisis depends also on the specific terms of the 'succession' procedure between fleets with different cost levels. During the last major maritime crisis, nations at a less advanced stage of development entered the maritime industry producing a service that had become—more or less—'standardized', following the Vernon product cycle more than all other cycles. The distribution of world tonnage among the different groups of countries underwent major changes as the effects of the economic crisis after 1973, which coincided with developments in the supply of tonnage, created favourable conditions for the rise of the lower cost fleets of developing countries, in a feedback relationship. The restoration of freight levels during the late 80s and early 90s, which was accompanied by a certain stabilization in the various groups of countries' shares in the world fleet, corroborates from the opposite direction the hypothesis of a close interrelationship between maritime crisis and changes in the international hierarchy in shipping.     

Risk and investment decisions in non-liner shipping

The investment decisions of non-liner shipping firms based on their behaviour towards risk, stochastic demand for capacity, inelastic supply and foregone profits are discussed. These aspects are formalized in a simple stochastic model, which, together with definitions of two broad categories of risk behaviour, is then used to examine and contrast the investment decisions of the two different strategic groups. The analysis shows that the capacity expansions/investments sought by the risk averter and the risk lover will differ under 'normal' circumstances with the risk averter having significantly less capacity than the risk lover. The risk lover will have higher capacity in a volatile market than in a stable market situation. During periods of high capital costs, the investment decisions of the two risk groups tend to be indistinguishable.     

Major sources of hydrocarbon emissions in a premixed charge compression ignition engine

Although premixed charge compression ignition (PCCI) combustion engines are praised for potentially high efficiency and clean exhaust, experimental engines built to date emit more hydrocarbons (HCs) and carbon monoxide (CO) than the conventional machines. These compounds are not only strictly controlled components of the exhaust gas of road vehicles but are also an energy loss indicator. The prime objective of this study was to investigate the major sources of the HCs formed in the combustion chamber of an experimental PCCI engine in order to suggest some effective technologies for HC reduction. In this study, to explore the dominant sources of HC emissions in both operation modes, a single cylinder engine was prepared such that it could operate using either conventional diesel combustion or PCCI combustion. Specifically, the contributions of the top-ring crevice volume in the combustion chamber and the bulk quenching of the lean mixture were investigated. To understand the influence of the shape and magnitude of the crevice on HC emissions, the engine was operated with 12 specially prepared pistons with different top-ring crevices installed one after another. The engine emitted proportionally more HCs as the depth of the crevice increased as long as the width remained narrower than the prevailing quench distance. The top-ring-crevice-originated exhaust HCs comprised approximately 31% of the total HC emissions in the baseline condition. In a series of tests to estimate the effects of bulk quench on exhaust HC emissions, intake air was heated from 300K to 400K in steps of 25K. With the intake air heated, HC and CO emissions decreased with a gradually diminishing rate to zero at 375K. In conclusion, the most dominant sources of HC emissions in PCCI engines were the crevice volumes in the combustion chamber and the bulk quenching of the lean mixtures. The key methods for reducing HC emissions in PCCI engines are minimizing crevice volume in the combustion chamber and maximizing intake air temperature allowed based on the permissible NOx level.