Supply chain performance in transport logistics: An assessment by service providers

Abstract

This study presents an assessment of supply chain performance (SCP) in transport logistics by service providers in the transport logistics industry in Hong Kong. The industry is broadly defined as encompassing firms involved in the business of serving the physical flows of goods from a point of origin, i.e. shippers, to a point of destination, i.e. consignees, in a supply chain. These firms include those in sea transport, freight forwarding, air transport and third-party logistics services. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with firms in the industry to evaluate their perceived SCP in transport logistics and the attached importance from both cost and service perspectives. The study findings provide managerial insights for firms in the industry to understand their SCP in transport logistics and benchmark areas for performance improvement.

Acknowledgements

This study was funded by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University under project code A-PC99. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the International Conference on Supply Chain Management and Information Systems in the Internet Age. The authors thank Prof. Kevin Cullinane and two anonymous referees for their comments and suggestions on earlier versions of this paper.