Characteristics of Transport Managers Which Influence Haulier Selection

The UK market for freight transport services used to be characterized by buyer inertia and high levels of source loyalty. For the last decade, suppliers of freight transport services have been operating in competitive markets in which supply has exceeded demand. Simultaneously attitudes to distribution management have been changing. Although transport costs account for a large percentage of total distribution costs, little is known of the effect of these changed attitudes on this function and on the nature of the relationships between buyers and suppliers. Using the Interaction Model of the IMP Group as a conceptual framework for the research, reports the results of a survey of transport managers conducted in Scotland, a coherent geographical region within the United Kingdom. Contains tables showing the distributions of ages and years of experience of transport buyers,their qualifications, the annual sum spent on transport and the contribution of the cost of haulage to the final cost of the major product transported, the frequency with which transport cost information goes to senior management and transport managers′ assessments of their firm′s senior management′s attitudes to distribution. Shows that transport managers have a higher status in their organizations than before and greater independence of decision making. Provides profiles of the transport manager′s job in companies with an “advanced”and “traditional” approach to distribution. These changes in the characteristics of transport managers and in the organizational factors which influence their behaviour are important to hauliers, as they affect both the nature and the duration of the relationship between buyer and supplier and the determinants of haulier selection.