Monetary values of transport service attributes: land versus maritime ro-ro transport. An application using adaptive stated preferences

Abstract

The objective of this work is that of illustrating a methodology to derive, in terms
\nof trade-offs, the relative values of transport service attributes for logistics
\noperators. In particular, the analysis yields insights on the preferences for timesavings,
\nfrequency and reliability of the transport service in terms of price, of a
\nsample of freight forwarders located in the South of Italy. The data is gathered
\nusing an Adaptive Stated Preference application and the estimates are obtained
\nthrough a Tobit ML estimator on both company specific data and pooled data.
\nThe results show that frequency is the most highly rated characteristic of the
\nservice together with reliability. The value of time is significantly lower in both
\ncases. The outcome is consistent across estimations and, substantially in line with
\nthe outcome of previous studies carried out on operators active at different levels
\nof the transport-logistic chain. Until now, in fact, studies have been carried out
\nuniquely on carriers or producers. The selection of freight forwarders allows to
\nshed light on a segment of the market that accounts for more than half of the
\ntransport-related decisions. Furthermore, the present study focuses on a
\ncomparison between all land transport and maritime ro-ro alternatives, in line
\nwith the growing interest on the integration among transport modes. The output
\nsignals both the absence of any a priori preclusion for ro-ro maritime services and
\nthe extremely important role that frequency of service assumes for the
\ndevelopment and the establishment of maritime services as realistic alternatives
\nto all land transport.