As outsourcing and offshoring continue to expand, the ocean container industry serves a critical and still increasing role in supporting global trade. Yet, perceived commoditization and intense price competition among ocean container carriers limit opportunities for competitive advantage and formation of long-term shipper–carrier relationships. This environment ultimately yields an unhealthy …
With this article we use an alternative form of the discrete choice model to analyze the distribution of maritime shipments among US ports. We model the distribution as a function of the characteristics that describe each shipment and each port. We assume that vessel schedules are fixed in the short-term and examine the assignment to ports for exports of various commodity-types as a function of…
Using a unique data set of individual shipments, port characteristics, and actual freight charges, we examined potential factors within management controls that affect the attractiveness of a port for containerized shipments. We hypothesized that the importance placed on each factor varies by the size of the shipper. We find support for our hypotheses that large shippers emphasize the factors a…
Shipping lines generally offer their clients two main value propositions: portto-port and door-to-door transport. In addition, some shipping lines offer a third value proposition in the form of transport up to inland terminals (ILTs). This third value proposition combines maritime and inland transport and is offered to two types of customers: shippers and forwarders. These two customer groups h…
The interface between logistics service providers (LSPs) and shippers is an area that has received little attention in previous research and even less has been done when environmental issues are added to this interface. Nonetheless, the perception among researchers and the industry is that in many instances, supply and demand in this green interface does not coincide. The purpose of this paper …
The purpose of this paper is to review and analyze maritime transportation academic research. For articles published in Maritime Policy & Management (MPM) in the period 2001 to 2012, the most frequent topics addressed include shipping performance/ management and shipping finance. For articles published in Maritime Economics & Logistics (MEL) in the period 2002 to 2012, the most frequent top…
A commonly suggested measure to make logistics greener is a shift to intermodal road-rail transportation. Most research addresses the issue from the carrier’s perspective, arguing for ways to improve the service production to better fit the shippers’ demand. In this article the issue is addressed from the shipper’s perspective. The purpose is to understand what contextual factors and oper…