Evaluation of benefits due to adoption of enablers of unimodal road to intermodal railroad freight transportation

The adverse environmental consequences arising from road-based logistics operations have prompted stakeholders, including transport service providers, logistics managers, and shippers, to initiate a modal shift from unimodal road to intermodal railroad (IRR) freight transportation. However, the adoption pace of IRR in developing nations is slow. Modal shift enablers (MSEs) facilitate IRR adoption, while modal shift benefits (MSBs) signify favorable performance outcomes from MSEs' application. The main objective of this study is to rank the MSBs resulting from the adoption of MSEs in IRR freight transportation. This study proposes an integrated multi-criteria decision-making framework utilizing the spherical fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (SF-AHP) to evaluate MSEs' weights and the spherical fuzzy technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (SF-TOPSIS) to rank the MSBs. The case study performed in the Indian logistics sector reveals that ‘government policies and legislation enablers’, ‘infrastructural enablers’ and ‘strategic and management enablers’ are the most significant MSEs, whereas reduction in vehicular pollution and related negative externalities as well as reduction of the freight transport costs including storage and handling charges are most crucial MSBs realized due to adoption of MSEs. A sensitivity analysis is conducted to assess the stability of the ranking. The results help decision-makers in implementing MSEs for MSBs and develop effective IRR adoption strategies. This study also promotes sustainable freight transportation and provides logistics practitioners, researchers, and policymakers with a precise, systematic, and practical decision-support tool.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2023.12.003
• Record URL:
  • http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967070X23003311
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/29485010
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Abstract reprinted with permission of Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Gandhi, Nevil
  • 0000-0001-7537-8698
  • Kant, Ravi
  • 0000-0002-4718-5757
  • Thakkar, Jitesh J
• Publication Date: 2024-2

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 295-311
• Serial:
  • Transport Policy
  • Volume: 146
  • Issue Number: 0
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0967-070X
  • Serial URL: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/issn/096707X

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Economic benefits; Environmental impacts; Freight transportation; Modal shift; Multimodal transportation; Railroad transportation
• Geographic Terms: India
• Subject Areas: Economics; Environment; Freight Transportation; Highways; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01903877
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 2 2024 9:19AM