DEREGULATION, STRATEGIC CHANGE, AND FIRM PERFORMANCE AMONG LTL MOTOR CARRIERS

This paper focuses on the effects of a major environmental change, deregulation, on the LTL (less-than-truckload) motor carrier strategies. The passage of the Motor Carrier Act (MCA) of 1980 was an especially traumatic event, in particular for the LTL segment of the motor carrier industry. This segment had received the greatest benefits from the protective system of government regulation initiated in 1935 with the inclusion by Congress of motor carriers under the jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). The government-sanctioned rate bureaus, coupled with highly restrictive ICC entry policies, resulted in an absence of effective rate competition among LTL carriers. The objectives of this paper are to examine how LTL firms adapted their strategies in response to this fundamental environmental change and to assess the performance implications of these shifts. Drawing from the strategic management literature, hypotheses are introduced and tested regarding the impact of deregulation and consequent environmental changes on strategy, strategic change, and firm performance.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/1588960
• Corporate Authors:

  American Society of Transportation and Logistics

  1816 Norris Place
  Louisville, KY  United States  40205
• Authors:
  • Corsi, T M
  • Grimm, C M
  • Smith, K G
  • Smith, R D
• Publication Date: 1991-9

Media Info

• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 4-13
• Serial:
  • Transportation Journal
  • Volume: 31
  • Issue Number: 1
  • Publisher: American Society of Transportation and Logistics
  • ISSN: 0041-1612
  • Serial URL: https://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/psup/transportation-journal

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Deregulation; Interstate commerce; Interstate transportation; Motor carriers; Traffic managers
• Identifier Terms: Motor Carrier Act of 1980
• Uncontrolled Terms: Shippers
• Subject Areas: Economics; Highways; Law; Motor Carriers; Planning and Forecasting; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00616636
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 30 1991 12:00AM