INNOVATION AND PRODUCTIVITY IN THE LINER INDUSTRY

This paper discusses innovation that has taken place in the liner industry in the last two decades, and its impact on productivity and service. The success of innovation can be measured by increased productivity and efficiency. Not just greater productivity in a technical sense. Rather, the worth of innovative efforts should be gauged by their economic contribution to a business enterprise, i.e., increased profitability. Regardless of which of the more commonly used objectives-of-a-firm are considered, they all involve a comparison of costs and revenues. This paper addresses the costs, both invested and operating. Also, transport capacity, throughput or output are discussed. The application of freight rates and load factors is left to the reader, since they vary considerably with time, trade and operator, and because they are beyond the scope of this paper. However, the variations, elements of cost, the reasons for the variations, and the increases in transportation output serve well enough to demonstrate the impact of innovation and technical improvement on the liner industry.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Presented at the Northwestern University Transportation Forum, New York, New York, March 13, 1978.
• Corporate Authors:

  Cushing (C.R.) and Co., Inc.

  New York, NY  United States 
• Authors:
  • Cushing, C R
• Publication Date: 1978

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: 49 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Barge carriers; Cargo handling; Containerization; Costs; Economic analysis; Highway capacity; Intermodal transportation; Liner shipping; Operating costs; Productivity; Profitability; Roll on roll off ships; Shipping
• Old TRIS Terms: Capitalized costs; Liner services; Transportation capacity
• Subject Areas: Economics; Finance; Freight Transportation; Highways; Marine Transportation; Operations and Traffic Management;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00179217
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Northwestern University, Evanston
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 19 1978 12:00AM