The effects of road maintenance on goods transport punctuality

The goal of this study was to examine the effects of road maintenance on the overall logistics of corporations. Company interviews, field studies and a literary study were used as research methods. Corporate representatives feel that different authorities have an important role in logistics. Authorities were considered to include both road administrators and different legislative organizations. Because a high quality road network and high standard of road maintenance were taken for granted, developing the road network did not come up as a distinct way of developing logistics. The general maintenance of main roads was rated highly by interviewees. On the other hand interviewees also wished for better maintenance in their comments. The availability of information about disturbances and weather conditions was stressed as being important for long distance traffic. A total of ten goods transport cases with varying driving time proportions were used in the field study. On average the driving time was approximately half of the total transport time. The duration of this half can be altered with road maintenance means. The other half contains the terminal operations of transportation such as unloading, loading, waiting times and breaks. The length of the terminal operations depends on the efficiency of the interfaces within the transport chain. When compared to earlier transport case research the relative durations of the different components of the transport chain were found to be roughly similar. In the cases studied the transportation time could only have been cut by improving the efficiency of terminal operations by for instance preloading containers. Even if the driver was only left with responsibility for picking up the cargo and driving without responsibility for terminal operations, the transports would still need large safety margins in case of delays and disturbances such as bad weather or accidents. Flexible schedules also improve safety and the working conditions of drivers. Improving interface procedures requires improved understanding of logistical operations. Cooperation requires sufficient transparency of supply chains and information systems to support this transparency. Improving these factors mitigates interface problems. Over time logistical processes have continuously become more order driven and batches have become smaller. These factors combined with business growth mean that road transport can be expected to continue to grow even though combining deliveries will be attempted. Punctuality requirements may also continue to grow. Companies would like more logistical cooperation. It is probable that the largest improvements and cost savings in logistics can be achieved by increasing cooperation between the different participants of the supply chain and also between suitable supply chains. Simply combining transports is thus not always enough. Instead it is necessary to take into account the efficiency of the whole logistical chain and all the processes related to it. This report may be found at http://alk.tiehallinto.fi/julkaisut/pdf/3200950-vtienp_vaikut_kuljet_tasm.pdf