Purchasing process for freight transport services and influence on CO2 emissions

Licentiate thesis, 2013

Companies purchasing freight transport services may through the purchasing process restrict or create opportunities for how transport service providers deliver the transport service. The purpose of this thesis is to explore how the configuration of the purchasing process for freight transport services can influence the reduction of CO2 emissions. This thesis is a compilation of three papers based on empirical data, collected mainly through interviews in three multiple-case studies. The results include descriptions of the purchasing process for freight transport services. Influence of the contextual dimensions purchase task, importance, and service type on the purchasing process for freight transport is discussed, and eight different types of contexts and their implications for the configuration of the purchasing process are presented. Relationships between the purchasing process for freight transport and logistical variables, related to CO2 emissions, are identified. In particular, time requirements and information sharing are highlighted as important underlying aspects of the relationships. Different configurations of the purchasing process for freight transport services facilitate or hinder consideration of such aspects. The results lead to increased understanding of how contextual variables influence the configuration of the purchasing process. The results also contribute to theory on reducing negative effects of freight transport on the environment, by connecting practices to logistical variables that are related to CO2 emissions, combining a purchasing process model with an existing framework that depicts the relationship between logistics and environmental effects. The results can be used by companies purchasing freight transport to support discussions aiming to reduce CO2 emissions.