Shippers contributing to the World Bank Study

World Bank consultations for study on Benchmarking the Global Trucking Industry

Byline: New World Bank study on global trucking performance to include a program of shipper, carrier, and public sector consultation interviews

Trucking comprises an important share of global freight transport. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in its 2017 Outlook estimated that global surface freight (road and rail) is expected to grow from 32 000 billion tonne-kilometres in 2015 to around 83 000 billion tonne-kilometres in 2050. More than 60% of this is carried by trucking. This translates to about 20 000 billion ton-kilometers of road freight in 2015 and 50 000 billion ton-kilometers in 2050, conveyed over surface road networks using trucks of different types in various stages of goods production.

Trucking remains a linchpin of global supply chains because of its versatility and flexibility. Trucks are not only a primary mode of choice in many cases where freight transport is needed, but they are in fact also the only choice in many circumstances, for example, for itineraries with relatively short lengths of haul and/or for the movement of containerized freight in relatively small economic order quantities (such as a truckload or smaller shipments). Trucking is thus the workhorse engine particularly of middle- and high-income economies, where it shows up in the form of diversified service offerings. At the same time, trucking is also the safety net for those economies that do not have suitable rail or waterway transport. Trucking helps bridge the important gaps in completing the production chain in sectors such as agriculture, extractives, simple manufacturing, health, and consumption.

Yet there continue to be important gaps in our collective understanding of both the strategic and the day-to-day tactical and operational decision-making of trucking sector actors in different countries—and their performance thereof. Public policy in many cases suffers from major blind spots about industry dynamics and therefore the impacts of certain types of policies on industry. And shippers, carriers, and logistics service providers themselves are often unable or insufficiently equipped to generate enterprise value at a level that matches their potential. To untangle these challenges, which are all-too-common across markets irrespective of income level, there is a need to make distinctions among the perspectives of three types of actors – shippers (demand side of trucking), trucking and ancillary service providers (supply side), and the public interest (enablers, facilitators, and guardians).

With this backdrop, the World Bank Group has embarked on an effort to better understand the drivers of trucking sector performance and to meaningfully compare same across countries. To do so, the Bank is endeavoring to realistically pinpoint the perspectives of these actors and developing a benchmarking framework for the global trucking industry.

The objective of this study is to develop a consistent framework and replicable methodology that enables a variety of stakeholders to compare performance metrics and trade-offs at an aggregate national level. Performance dimensions will be tailored to both the private sector and the public sector. The framework will also link and illustrate the relationships among metrics of interest across these realms. The ultimate strategic objective is to to galvanize interest in and make the case for public sector reform, and inform the policies that should be pursued to support the reform effort. The work will also aim to help practitioners assess their own performance relative to national and bespoke benchmarks, and to better understand their own levers of value creation. The World Bank has partnered with CPCS Transcom Limited (CPCS) — a management consulting firm specializing in freight, transportation, supply chains, and logistics — to assist with the benchmarking effort.

Stakeholder input is critical to the development of the performance assessment framework. In particular, sound industry input will help ensure that the conclusions and recommendations are both grounded in practice and actionable. The World Bank Group and CPCS are conducting a number of consultations with various stakeholders to better understand how the trucking industry functions in different parts of the world, what affects business and operating decisions, and what financial, economic and operational aspects are important to different industry players.

For more information, please contact Vivek Sakhrani at vsakhrani@cpcs.ca and Luis C. Blancas at lblancas@worldbank.org.