Horizontal collaborative transport: survey of solutions and practical implementation issues

TLDR

Horizontal collaboration is increasingly viewed as an effective strategy for sustainable logistics and freight transport. This paper surveys horizontal collaborative transport developments over the past decade, identifies research trends and gaps, proposes future research directions, and offers guidelines for logistics firms selecting HCT solutions. The authors conducted a systematic literature review of 120 papers published between 2007 and 2017, using a framework that maps HCT solutions and implementation issues. The review found that carrier alliance and flow controller collaborations dominate the literature, while innovative approaches such as pooling and the physical internet are emerging, and that research has concentrated on decision‑making models with managerial and technological issues receiving less attention.

Abstract

Horizontal collaboration has been considered as effective practice for sustainable logistics and freight transport and it has gained increased attention in recent years. This paper aims to provide a survey of the development of horizontal collaborative transport (HCT) over the past ten years, to identify research trends and gaps, then to propose some research opportunities. The paper also aims to provide guidelines to logistics companies who wish to embark on HCT, to help them choose which HCT solution to implement. To provide a comprehensive and structured review, the paper follows the methodology for Systematic Literature Review proposed in the literature. A total of 120 scientific papers published between 2007 and 2017 were reviewed. A survey framework based on two axes – HCT solutions and implementation issues – is developed to analyse and position the papers. The results show that, regarding HCT solutions, carrier alliance and flow controller collaboration were the most frequently studied. But recent innovative solutions such as pooling and physical internet are also gaining increased attention. Regarding implementation issues, the focus of the literature has been on the development of decision-making models, including transport planning, lane exchange, and gain sharing. Conversely, managerial and technological issues have received less attention.