[sustran] Re: "World Transport Policy & Practice" Volume 10, Number 3 (2004) now available

[Daryl Oster]

The paper “logistics and transport a conceptual model” (in WTPP v10#3)
advocates methods that unrealistically reward trains and ships, and obscure
the advantages of other modes.

On the last quarter of page 9, the definition of the indicator of transport
“transport efficiency” is defined as the ratio between ton-kilometers and
vehicle-kilometers.  

This definition may yield efficiency indications with traditional
transportation modes like ships, trains, and trucks, however it cannot be
considered a comprehensive measure of efficiency.  

Efficiency has several dimensions, including:  
Infrastructure cost, Time cost, Labor cost, and Energy cost, all compared on
a ton-kilometer basis.  Also, there must be a comparison of the distance the
load travels in vehicles along the routes, compared with the straight-line
distance from origin to destination that the load is transported (distance
efficiency). 

The ratio of ton-kilometers and vehicle-kilometers is equal to vehicle
capacity.  So the “logistics and transport a conceptual model” on pg.9
really states that efficiency scales with vehicle size.   This is only true
if there are savings in cost associated with vehicle size.  

There are many instances where ton-km costs do NOT scale inversely with
vehicle size:

*Infrastructure cost – the tooling cost for large vehicles is much greater,
and the number of vehicles produced is small, so vehicle cost per ton of
capacity scales with size.

*Time cost – it takes longer to assemble most general cargo loads in large
vehicles than in small vehicles, so many elements of time cost scale with
vehicle size.  

*Labor cost – labor savings is one of the main reasons vehicles have
traditionally been made large.  The use of automation eliminates this
advantage for large vehicles.  Large vehicles typically have the labor
disadvantage of requiring several loading and unloading and transfers, and
the need for storage while waiting for load assembly and disassembly. 

*Energy cost – the energy efficiency advantage of using large vehicles is
mostly related to fluid dynamics.  This advantage is only achieved if the
vehicle is full, and for travel in a fluid like air or water.  There is no
advantage if viscosity effects are mitigated (as with ETT – see www.et3.com
).  

*The use of large vehicles usually results in a reduction of distance
efficiency compared with using small vehicles.  Large vehicles are more
constrained: large ships cannot use small channels, or harbors, increasing
the distance the load must travel, or involving transfers to other modes;
trains cannot easily cross mountains or rivers; trucks on a delivery route
increase the distance the average delivery pallet must travel from the
origin to the destination.  

The questions raised in the summary on page 10-11:

	“Is it possible to divert transport into more environmentally
friendly 	directions, to create sustainable transport solutions or
even to 	create sustainable supply and demand chains?
	Will it be possible to diminish the growth of transport without
conflicting with welfare goals on the macro level and thereby decouple
transport and economic growth as was the case in the 1970s in the
energy sector?
	These questions, however, require some new answers to be given,
which 	means creating new knowledge around transport and its integration in
the processes of production, distribution and logistics. This paper 	has
tried to move the first steps in that direction by
	presenting some frameworks of analysing the multiple relations
between 	transport and logistics.”

Indicates the intent of the authors are noble, however the methods of
analysis indicate that either the authors have a shallow understanding of
transportation efficiency, or they have a hidden agenda of creating policy
to protect trains and ships from further innovation in transportation
efficiency promised by automation and new modes.

Daryl Oster
(c) 2004  all rights reserved.  ETT, et3, MoPod, "space travel on earth"
e-tube, e-tubes,  and the logos thereof are trademarks and or service marks
of et3.com Inc.  For licensing information contact:    et3 at et3.com ,
www.et3.com  POB 1423, Crystal River FL 34423-1423  (352)257-1310

> -----Original Message-----
> From: sustran-discuss-bounces+et3=et3.com at list.jca.apc.org
> [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+et3=et3.com at list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of
> Pascal Desmond
> Sent: Monday, December 20, 2004 4:27 AM
> To: SUSTRAN
> Subject: [sustran] "World Transport Policy & Practice" Volume 10,Number 3
> (2004) now available
> 
> Lancaster, 20 December, 2004
> 
> 
> Volume 10, Number 3 (2004) of "World Transport Policy & Practice", a
> 
> quarterly journal edited by Professor John Whitelegg, is available free of
> 
> charge as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file at
> 
> http://www.eco-logica.co.uk/WTPPhome.html
> 
> 
> This is a special edition of WTPP, featuring work by authors from FLUX ­
> the
> 
> Centre for Transport Research at Roskilde University
> 
> Contents of Volume 10, Number 3, 2004:
> 
> 
> Guest Editorial
> 
> Per Homann Jespersen
> 
> 
> Logistics and transport ­ a conceptual model
> 
> Per Homann Jespersen & Lise Drewes Nielsen
> 
> 
> Fresh salmon from Norway to Japan - a case study of a global supply chain
> 
> Tina Petersen & Lise Drewes Nielsen
> 
> 
> Transport logistical effects of new traffic infrastructures - examples
> from
> 
> the Scandinavian Links
> 
> Leif Gjesing Hansen
> 
> 
> The transport content of products
> 
> Per Homann Jespersen
> 
> 
> Future workshops on freight transport - a methodology for actor
> involvement
> 
> Lise Drewes Nielsen, Per Homann Jespersen & Katrine Hartmann-Petersen
> 
> 
> A sociological perspective on supply chains - an interview analysis
> 
> Lise Drewes Nielsen & Else Nygaard
> 
> 
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> World Transport Policy & Practice
> 
> ISSN 1352-7614
> 
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> 
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