Service Priorities in International Logistics

Abstract

The paper first reviews the increased internationalization of corporate logistics, existing carrier selection literature, and previous shipper‐carrier comparison studies. Then the results of a study involving 305 international shipper respondents and 27 global carrier respondents are presented. Both groups were surveyed about the importance to international shippers of a wide range of logistics service attributes. It appears that the service priorities of international shippers are consistent with the findings of previous (U.S. domestic) carrier selection studies. Reliability and transit time rank first, while cost follows in third place. The priority ratings of global carrier managers match those of the shippers, with one important difference: carrier managers significantly underrated the importance and ranking of transit time. Two other significant differences in ratings were also found. Carriers underrated the importance of carrier considerations, and overrated the importance of distribution services. These results are discussed and implications for carrier management are formulated.

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