Mergers and acquisitions in shipping

In this comprehensive study of all shipping mergers and acquisitions from 1984 to 2011 we document that the shareholders of both acquirers and targets realise average abnormal gains of 1.2% and 3.3% respectively and both parties gain more from diversifying than focus-increasing deals. Acquirers gain more when paying with stock, in cross-border deals and from taking over public targets. Targets gain more from cross-border and focus-increasing deals. Regulatory interventions, like the EU repeal of exemption from competition and the US Ocean Shipping Reform Act, affect the marginal merger propensity and this propensity differs significantly across regions.     

Organizational learning,operating costs and airline consolidation policy in the Chinese airline industry

This study investigated and reviewed organizational learning in the Chinese airline industry, which is dominated by state-owned or state-controlled airlines. This empirical research focused on the extensive scale of airline mergers and acquisitions among 12 Chinese airlines for the period of 1996–2014. This research aims to make a contribution towards addressing the general lack of academic reflection on the impact of organizational learning on airline performance during and after the completion of mergers and acquisitions. The empirical findings of this paper suggested that there was, in general, organizational learning experienced by Chinese airlines from their prior operating experience in improving operating costs. However, airline mergers in 2001/02 increased airlines' average operating costs, as most state-owned airlines are notorious for poor cost management. Significantly, the performance improvement among Chinese airlines was found during the post-merger periods in this study, and the increase in Chinese airlines’ operating costs during the post-acquisition periods due to the limited integration of 2010 acquisition compared with the 2001/02 mergers.     

铁路主要货运站能力适应性分析及对策研究

研究主要货运站的能力适应性，对于解决当前铁路点线能力不匹配的问题具有重要意义。通过对全路主要货运站货运设施、货运到发量、能力利用率和存在问题的摸底调查，分析了全路主要货运站存在的普遍问题和实施升级改造的必要性，结合我国货运改革和货运需求变化等形势，提出若干主要货运站适应发展的对策，并以长沙地区货运站搬迁改造为例进行分析。     

南通市综合交通枢纽布局优化对策

为推进南通市交通运输转型发展,优化交通基础设施空间一体布局,在经济增长中发挥好支撑引领作用,在阐述南通市综合交通枢纽布局现状、发展定位和存在问题的基础上,从强化对外综合运输通道建设、畅通周边城市城际交通网络、提升市域集散网覆盖通达水平、大力发展多式联运系统和促进综合货运枢纽高效衔接5个方面提出南通市综合交通枢纽布局优化对策。综合交通枢纽的布局优化,有利于完善南通市的枢纽功能,进一步提升其在全国综合交通体系中的战略地位,发展枢纽经济,实现经济转型,加快打造成长三角北冀经济中心。     

Liquidity risk premium and asset pricing in US water transportation

The water transportation of freight has been one of the most important sectors in facilitating international trade and contributing to the growth of the world economy. Bearing in mind the importance of the relation between asset returns and liquidity in water transportation, this paper examines this relation within the context of US traded international water freight transportation firms. Using a Fama–MacBeth analysis, it is shown that the illiquidity risk premium is priced in the water transportation sector beyond the Fama and French and market-wide illiquidity risk factors, indicating higher average returns for stocks with greater illiquidity measures. It is also shown that the market-wide illiquidity factor and the Fama–French SMB and HML risk factors are significant in explaining stock returns. In contrast, market risk is found not to be priced in the water transportation sector. The results are also robust to asset pricing tests over two alternative sub-periods.     

铁路货运高质量发展策略研究

2021年,全路货运系统深入推进运输结构调整,大力实施以货补客,深化货运组织改革,高站位完成重点物资保供任务,高质量完成多式联运发展目标,货运服务质量和信息化水平进一步提升,货运安全管理进一步强化,货运安全局面持续稳定。2022年,全路货运系统要抢抓机遇、担当作为,深入开展货运安全专项整治、强化货运专业管理基础、扩大“公转铁”工作成效、加快集装箱多式联运发展、促进专业物流稳步增量、服务“一带一路”建设,在全面深化基础管理、持续推进运输结构调整、优化“一带一路”铁路运输组织、持续深化货运组织改革、强化队伍建设和监督检查上取得新成效,奋力推动铁路货运高质量发展。     

我国铁路快捷货运产品设计及组织优化的探讨

快运产品设计是铁路快捷货运普遍关注的问题.针对铁路快捷货运产品现状和存在的问题,提出铁路快捷货运业务流程再造的目的、内容和机理.基于流程再造,对快捷货运产品进行完善设计,提出细分和强化既有快运产品,开发诸如多式联运、高速、客车化、运输组织创新的快运新产品.以特快、快速、普快三类快运产品划分为标准,设计运输组织优化步骤,实现以市场为导向的铁路快捷货运产品设计和组织.     

Multi-criteria decision-making for complex bundling configurations in surface transportation of air freight

Airlines typically carry out freight transportation in a hub and spoke structure, where the movements between the outstations and the hub are served by trucks. To transport freight efficiently, air carriers must consider bundling options for shipments that are delivered at outstations and have to be moved to the hub. There are three options when it comes to bundling freight: on ‘through unit load devices’ (T-ULD) (all freight for the same flight at the hub), on ‘mixed unit load devices’ (M-ULD) (freight for different flights at the hub) and loose freight in trucks. The optimal freight bundling configuration for carriers, taking into account their main KPIs (key performance indicators), is unknown. This research formulates the problem as a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem, allowing carriers to decide which configuration is optimal for a given outstation. The selected KPIs (cost, (un)loading time, and quality) are formulated as mathematical functions. A new MCDM, called best worst method (BWM), is then used to identify the best configuration with respect to the three KPIs. The proposed methodology is applied to KLM Cargo to identify the best configuration for the selected outstations that supply freight to the KLM hub at Schiphol Airport. This case study shows that there are different optimal freight bundling configurations for different outstations and that trucking costs and freight handling tariffs are among the key factors in deciding which configuration is optimal.     

铁路货运组织改革相关法律问题探讨

铁路货运组织改革涉及诸多相关法律问题。从铁路货运组织改革所涉及的铁路运输企业与货主企业外部法律关系变化的角度,探讨了铁路承运人经营资格、铁路运输行为的法律规制、铁路货运合同的内涵变化以及铁路货物损害赔偿等法律问题,有助于进一步完善铁路货运法律制度。     

The impact of railroad mergers on grain transportation markets: a Kansas case study

While there have been many studies of the impact of railroad deregulation on agricultural transportation markets there have been very few that address the impact of railroad mergers on rail grain prices and the distribution of efficiency gains. The purpose of this paper is to add to the sparse literature regarding the effect of railroad mergers on agricultural transportation markets. Given the ever declining number of Class I railroads, this research is very timely.The specific objectives of the research are as follows: (1) Analyze the impact of the Burlington Northern (BN)–Santa Fe (SF) merger on the ability of the BNSF to increase prices on movements of Kansas wheat to Houston, Texas. (2) Analyze the impact of the Union Pacific (UP)–Southern Pacific (SP) merger on the ability of the UPSP to increase prices on movements of Kansas wheat to Houston, Texas. (3) Analyze changes in Kansas wheat logistics system costs as a result of the BN–SF and UP–SP mergers.Two models are developed to achieve the objectives of the study. A network model of the wheat logistics system is used to identify the least cost transportation routes from the Kansas study area to the market at Houston, Texas. A profit improvement algorithm is developed to measure the amount by which railroads can raise their prices above variable cost.The BNSF and UPSP achieve only minor increases in market power (measured by the ratio of revenue to variable cost) because the merged railroads have only slight advantages in cost relative to other railroads that serve the same areas as the merged railroads. Wheat shippers benefit from merger-induced reductions in transportation and handling costs. Shippers are likely to capture a significant share of these cost reductions since intrarailroad competition is present after the mergers. Transport cost reductions accompany mergers due to more direct routing of wheat shipments and the assumption that the merged railroad operates at the costs of the lower cost partner.     

A multi-level spatial-temporal model for freight movement: The case of manufactured goods flows on the U.S. highway networks

The spatial production, attraction, and movement of manufactured goods are vital to the economy of a region and country. The U.S. department of transportation also mandates to incorporate continuing and efficient freight movement and infrastructure into statewide and local long range planning. Studies on supply, demand, and transport of manufactured goods by firm, industry, mode, or commodity are vast in the logistics and supply chain literature. However, relatively sparse research is available on aggregated movement or freight on national, state, or local transportation networks. Better understanding and modeling freight movement on highway networks to facilitate local transportation, land use, economic development, and comprehensive planning is at the heart of freight research. Therefore, the major endeavors and novel contributions of this research include a conceptual framework proposed for freight movement research, a multi-level spatial-temporal freight model based upon the social optimum assignment for optimal “from”, “to”, “within”, and “through” freight flows of manufactured goods on the U.S. highway networks, and a set of performance measures designed to reveal states in terms of their competitive advantages in production, attraction, self-sufficiency, or cross-road. The freight flows were first visualized and highlighted by state at the U.S. level, then by county at the state level for Oklahoma, and finally by traffic analysis zone for the Tulsa metropolitan area. The spatial split of freight flows was accomplished through using freight, network, and demographic-economic databases at state, county, and zone scales.     

On structural inelasticity of modal substitution in freight transport

At the European level there is an increasing focus on how freight transport can be moved from trucks on roads to more environmentally friendly modes such as rail and ship. A large proportion of the transport services between OD pairs, however, cannot be substituted since there is only one alternative available. The paper investigates the magnitude of this “structural inelasticity” of modal substitution in freight transport due to a sparser layout of rail and ship-based freight networks compared to road. In the analysis we use a recent Scandinavian freight demand model covering more than 800 zones. We find that the structural inelasticity is very significant - in particular for transportation over less than 500 km. Moreover, the inelasticity varies greatly with commodity groups and between OD pairs, and it depends strongly on the port and rail infrastructure. The results suggest that pure charging instruments (road pricing for trucks) in many regions will have limited mode substitution impacts. However, if combined with structural changes in terms of improved infrastructure for rail and ship, impacts may be greater.     

Regional disparity analysis of Chinese freight transport CO2 emissions from 1990 to 2007: Driving forces and policy challenges

Freight transportation and logistics act as the artery of the national economy. With a booming economy, China's freight transport sector has experienced dramatic growth in recent decades and has become a key driving force of China's CO₂ emissions. Therefore, effective and efficient mitigation policies in the freight transport sector are critical for China to promote CO₂ emission mitigation strategies. In contrast to other countries, China's challenge stems not only from technical issues but also from regional socioeconomic disparities, which in turn require the implementation of locally oriented policies. For this reason, an analysis based on regional disparity is of vital importance for future policy making. However, to date, there have been few pertinent studies on the freight transportation sector. To fill this gap, this paper aims to conduct an in-depth comparative study of CO₂ emission characteristics and the driving forces in the freight transport sector in China's three regions (covering 31 provinces) from 1990 to 2007. The log mean Divisia index method (LMDI) is employed to analyse the driving forces, and the Gini coefficient is used to investigate regional inequity. Additionally, regional disparity is explored in-depth based on the analytical results and practical concerns. The results highlight that economic structure is a key driving force for emissions change and reveal significant regional disparity and inequity in freight transport emissions. The results are critical for future policy-making to address regional concerns.     

高速铁路发展与中国铁路货运

随着中国高速铁路的发展,铁路运输能力快速提升,经济社会快速发展和产业结构优化升级促使高附加值产成品、集装箱等货物运输需求迅猛增长。新形势下,中国铁路货运面临着前所未有的发展机遇,研究高速铁路发展与中国铁路货运具有重要意义。分析中国高速铁路发展对铁路货物运输的影响,介绍中国铁路货运组织创新的一系列举措以及取得的成就,并对客货分线后中国铁路货运的发展战略进行探讨。     

UK road freight energy use by product: trends and analysis from 1985 to 1995

Since the early 1980s, energy use in road freight has been rising much faster than overall energy use in the UK. To better understand the factors driving this rapid growth, we carried out an analysis of road freight energy use trends across 14 product sectors from 1985 to 1995. Growth in length and complexity of supply chains, rather than growth of output, is shown to be the main driver of increasing freight energy consumption, with high value products having the highest energy use per tonne lifted. Policy options and a proposal for improved estimation of energy consumption are also discussed.     

A selected review on the negative externalities of the freight transportation: Modeling and pricing

The planning of freight transportation activities creates benefits as well as costs. Among those costs, some of them, namely externalities, fall on other people/society that have no direct relevance to the operations of transportation. Such externalities are accrued expenses which should be addressed by actual pricing policies to enable an efficient and sustainable freight transportation system. This paper reviews externalities in quantitative terms, and then provides pricing studies of these costs per unit of freight transported along with the most recent estimations. The associated negative externalities are structured by transportation mode (road, rail, maritime, and air).     

The geography of air freight: connections to U.S. metropolitan economies

Despite the rapid growth of air freight shipments, much of the existing literature on the geography of air transportation has paid more attention to passenger travel than air freight. The purpose of this paper is to elevate our understanding of air freight by determining which specific variables most influence and shape the geographic distribution of air freight by metropolitan area using stepwise regression analysis. The empirical results suggest a regression model of five independent variables was the most parsimonious solution where the final model accounted for 71.1% of the variation in air freight shipments by metropolitan area (MA). The most important predictor was the traffic shadow effect, where less populated MAs under the traffic shadow of larger MAs tended to generate lower levels of freight. The model also suggested that other key predictors included the employment market share in transportation-shipping-logistics industries, per capita personal income, the number of medical diagnostic and supplier establishments, and above average wages in high technology. Overall, metropolitan markets with diverse and efficient ground support systems, freight forwarders and other transportation services, a more affluent population, an intense agglomeration of medical laboratories and related suppliers, and a well paid skilled workforce engaged in computer systems design and electronic product manufacturing are more likely to ship freight by air.     

Freight options: Price modelling and empirical analysis

This paper discusses an extension of the traditional lognormal representation for the risk neutral spot freight rate dynamics to a diffusion model overlaid with jumps of random magnitude and arrival. Then, we develop a valuation framework for options on the average spot freight rate, which are commonly traded in the freight derivatives market. By exploiting the computational efficiency of the proposed pricing scheme, we calibrate the jump diffusion model using market quotes of options on the trip-charter route average Baltic Capesize, Panamax and Supramax Indices. We show that the jump-extended setting yields important model improvements over the basic lognormal setting.     

Pricing freight rate options

In this paper we set up the theoretical framework for the valuation of the Asian-style options traded in the freight derivatives market. Assuming lognormal spot freight dynamics, we show that Forward Freight Agreements (FFA) are also lognormal prior to the settlement period, but that this lognormality subsequently breaks down. We suggest approximate dynamics in the settlement period for the FFA that leads to closed-form option pricing formulas for Asian call and put options written on the spot freight rate indices in the Black [Black, F., 1976. The pricing of commodity contracts. Journal of Financial Economics 3, 167–179] framework. In a Monte Carlo experiment we show that our formula gives very accurate prices, in particular for forward-starting freight options.     

Measuring connectivity in the air freight industry

In this paper, we present an air transport connectivity model for air freight. For the purposes of this paper, connectivity is defined as all possible direct and indirect connections to or from an airport operated by wide-body aircraft, weighted for the quality of the connection in terms of transhipment and in-flight times. Using this model, we analyse the networks of seven European airports. Europe’s largest hub airports carry most air freight thanks to their extensive intercontinental passenger networks, while smaller airports with a strong focus on air freight carry large amounts of cargo on dedicated freighter aircraft. For air freight operations, the catchment area of an airport is much larger than it is for passenger services, as shipments are being trucked to their departure airport throughout all of mainland Europe. Since there are many airports sharing the same catchment area, potential competition for air freight is fierce. We found that well located regions between the four large European airports have access to large air freight networks, whilst regional air freight connectivity in northern and southern parts of Europe is substantially lower.