European Common Transport Policy and Short‐Sea Shipping: Empirical Evidence Based on Modal Choice Models

Abstract

This article aims to find the determinants of mode choice decisions for Spanish full lorry and full container loads shipments to the rest of Europe in four productive sectors: agroindustry, ceramic tiles, motor vehicle parts and household appliances. To this end exhaustive fieldwork was carried out and a database constructed, including 507 observations collected from transport decision‐makers. A binary logit is used to estimate a modal choice model where the two modes considered are road transport and Short‐Sea Shipping. The estimation of the model stresses the importance of a politico‐economic evaluation of how to modify the modal split, paying particular attention to the role that can be attributed to a series of variables going beyond cost and time, which address the increasing complexity of sectorial logistics chains.

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the funding received from the Interministry Commission of Science and Technology (CICYT) of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science in its project TRA2006‐09939/TMAR ‘Short Sea Shipping Development: Solutions to Create Motorways of the Sea’.

Notes

1. Three of the sub‐sectors that make up Spain’s food and agriculture industry with a relatively high weight/value ratio and which do not require a cold chain were selected: wine, tinned foods and vegetable oils.

2. ‘Under the “E”‐term (EXW), the seller only makes the goods available to the buyer at the seller’s own premises’ (International Chamber of Commerce, 2000).

3. ‘Under the “C”‐terms (CFR, CIF, CPT and CIP), the seller has to contract for carriage, but without assuming the risk of loss or damage to the goods or additional costs due to events occurring after shipment or dispatch’ (International Chamber of Commerce, 2000).

4. ‘Under the “F”‐terms (FCA, FAS and FOB), the seller is called upon to deliver the goods to a carrier appointed by the buyer’ (International Chamber of Commerce, 2000).

5. ‘Under the “D”‐terms (DAF, DES, DEQ, DDU and DDP), the seller has to bear all costs and risks needed to bring the goods to the place of destination’. (International Chamber of Commerce, 2000).