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.

Transport buyer

Shipper

Sustainability

Purchasing process

Freight transport

Context

Vasa-C salen, Vera Sandbergs Allé 8, Chalmers
Opponent: Catrin Lammgård, Assistant Professor, Department of Business Administration, Logistics and Transport Research Group, School of Business, Economics and Law at University of Gothenburg, Sweden

Author

Sara Rogerson

Chalmers, Technology Management and Economics, Logistics & Transportation

Driving Forces

Sustainable development

Areas of Advance

Transport

Subject Categories

Transport Systems and Logistics

Environmental Management

Licentiate thesis, report - Department of Technology of Management and Economics, Chalmers University of Technology: L2013:062

Vasa-C salen, Vera Sandbergs Allé 8, Chalmers

Opponent: Catrin Lammgård, Assistant Professor, Department of Business Administration, Logistics and Transport Research Group, School of Business, Economics and Law at University of Gothenburg, Sweden

More information

Created

10/8/2017