Research on truckload transportation procurement: A review, framework, and future research agenda

Abstract

The body of literature on truckload (TL) transportation procurement decisions by firms (shippers) and their transportation service providers (motor carriers) has been driven by real-world challenges faced by a large and important segment of the economy. The field has received the attention of researchers from a wide range of domains. While this attention demonstrates the appeal of these complex procurement problems, it also underscores a key challenge: the literature is dispersed and uncoordinated. This makes it difficult to identify meaningful new streams of research, risks slowing progress in the field, and limits the exposure of the research to wider supply chain audiences. With this review of the existing literature, we coordinate the growing set of research in this domain and demonstrate how the TL procurement literature is positioned within the broader streams of service procurement research. We develop a framework that describes the types (make vs. buy) and timing (strategic or execution stage) of decisions about the procurement of TL transportation services, organized by which actor's perspective is taken—the shipper's or the carrier's. We suggest areas of future research informed by an existing set of industry-led research and the gaps we have identified in the academic literature.