La sous-traitance dans le transport routier de marchandises: les enseignements de l’enquête ECHO (2004)

Road haulage is nowadays the main transport mode in France, demonstrating its ability to fulfil shippers’ demands. Among other success factors, the possibility for large companies to subcontract to very small ones, with very low fixed costs and greater flexibility, is often quoted as a major advantage. The ECHO survey, conducted in France in 2004, gives information about 10000 shipments made by 3000 shippers. This survey allows the analysis of subcontracting, by following at every stage how each shipment is given to another carrier by contract. The analysis shows that some subcontracts are mainly cost driven, but others aim at using the specialised skills of a particular haulier. For every transport segment (single parcel delivery service, parcel delivery service, less than truck load, full truck load), subcontracting is described in terms of sizes of the companies involved, services provided and the reasons for subcontracting. These results describe the main features of several different types of subcontracts.