The Adjustment of Supply Chains to New States : A Qualitative Assessment of Decision Relationships with Reference to Congestion Charging

This paper uses a series of in-depth interviews with buyers and sellers of freight services in Sydney, Australia. Interviews with industry leaders (e.g. senior managers of suppliers, retailers, freight companies) is combined with the results of a broad literature search to determine the role agents in the supply chain play regarding their influence in decision making. The research also seeks to identify both the nature and the extent of diversity in freight contract profiles, along with behavioral responses to transport-oriented policy. The research particularly examines the behavioral responses – manifested as management positions – to schemes such as congestion charging. Using the toll road network of Sydney as a contextual reference point, the toll roads are compared with congestion charging to determine their potential effect on the movement of urban goods.