Performance measurement in

freight transport
Its contribution to the design, implementation and
monitoring of public policy

PRENSENTED BY : Ghouza Oumaima

Noubir Wafa
1 Introduction
 INTRODUCTION

Formulating and implementing evidence-based policies on freight

transport

Collection and analysis of large amounts of data

2
 INTRODUCTION

How
Where is the efficiently is
freight going? freight being
What is the transported?
relative use of
different
transport
modes?
How much
freight is
being moved?

3
 INTRODUCTION

Transport Modal Market Operational Service Environmental

intensity split diversity efficiency quality impact

4
 Main areas of performance
5 measurement in freight
transport
 Freight
transport
intensity
(freight per unit of
economic output)

6
 Freight transport intensity
(freight per unit of economic output)

Freight intensity is defined as the ratio of freight moved (as measured in tonne kilometers)
divided by the level of GDP in an economy.

Freight intensity is one of the standard measures of demand activity in comparative

assessment of environmental and sustainability policies .

Source:Havenga and Simpson

2014

Figure 1 : Amount of GDP generated per tonne-km 7

 Freight transport intensity
(freight per unit of economic output)

 
Freight transport intensity can be derived by its components:

𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑘𝑚
  𝑇𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑘𝑚 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑘𝑚 Totaltonnelifted 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑
≡ × × ×
𝐺𝐷𝑃 $ 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑘𝑚 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝐺𝐷𝑃 $

8
 Freight transport intensity
(freight per unit of economic output)

In some analysis:

× GDP

Domestic Material Consumption (the annual quantity of raw materials extracted

from the domestic territory, plus all physical imports minus all physical exports )
Source: Eurostat (2014)
9
Freight
modal
split
(division of freight
between transport
modes)

10
 Freight modal split
(division of freight between transport modes)

 This indicator is defined as the percentage share of each

mode of transport in total inland transport expressed in 
tonne-kilometres.

 It includes transport by road, rail and inland waterways. 

11
 Freight modal split
(division of freight between transport modes)

Purpose To provide information on the relative importance of

Measurement method
Status of the Methodology
Data needed to compile the Indicator
National and International Data Availability
and Sources
different modes of goods transport at the global,
regional and national levels.
The preferred method is to measure transport
performance (tonne-kilometres) based on movements
on national territory.
Data collection methodologies are not harmonized at
the global level.
The indicator is compiled from series of tonne-
kilometre for road, rail and inland waterways.
Data on goods transport performance are available
through either national statistical institutes, ECMT,
UNECE or UIC. 12
 Freight modal split
(division of freight between transport modes)

Limitations of the Indicator

?
• The indicator is based on inland transport only
• The use of volumes transported rather than vehicles

 If comprehensive data on vehicle movements for all modes of transport

become available, the indicator could be modified.

13
 Freight modal split
(division of freight between transport modes)

Contestability in the freight market

To be able to measure the size of the contestable market and hence assess the true potential for

freight modal shift, one requires a disaggregation of modal freight data by variables such as :
 Length of haul
 Commodity type
 Truck class and weight
14
Cliquez sur l'icône pour ajouter une image

Market
Diversity
(range of logistics
services available)

15
 Market diversity
(range of logistics services available)

Figure 2: Portfolio of freight transport services classified by consignment size and geographical extent

Differentiation by speed and range of logistics services

16
 Market diversity
(range of logistics services available)

Want to gain a deeper insight into the structure and dynamics of the freight / logistics
market ?

Look at the reports of market research firms that analyze the company's annual reports and trade
directories to provide a detailed picture of the freight /logistics market in particular countries and
Regions, often supplementing their databases with original surveying work.

17
OPERATIONAL
EFFICIENCY
(Use of resources /
Capacity)

18
 Operational Efficiency
(Use of resources / capacity)

The organization defines operational efficiency as a series of measures: back-loading and

allocating operational costs (savings are divided between operator and transport buyer).

They also define fuel management as a tool to monitor improvements in operations, in which
driver training, office systems and vehicle management systems are an important part.

Another report by Freight Best Practice (2009; 2011) suggests a greater number of key
indicators for operational efficiency and divides them into the following groups: costs,
operational, service, compliance, maintenance and environmental.

19
 Operational Efficiency
(Use of resources / capacity)

Productivity: the ratio of outputs (such as tonne-kms or vehicle-kms) to inputs (such as fuel, vehicles,
labor)

Figure 3: Increase in the productivity of UK road freight :1953-2002 Figure 4: Increase in the productivity of US Class 1 railroads:1980-2012 ton-miles
per Locomotive per annum

 The improvement of productivity doesn't necessarily mean that the utilization of the vehicle
capacity is going up.
20

Utilization: the ratio of the capacity actually used to the total capacity available (such as the amount of
space in a container actually occupied by a load).
Empty running Partially-loaded
• The average capacity
 Wasteful economically utilization should be measured
 Cary an environmental penalty
Example: The UK government
uses data from its annual survey
of road freight movement to
calculate average ‘lading factor’
values for different vehicle
classes.
Operational Efficiency
(Use of resources / capacity)
Overloaded
• Substantial loss of fuel
efficiency.
• Longer term damage to road
infrastructure
• Reduces of the efficiency of
trucking operations because of
the unevenness of the road
surface and the delays caused
by the additional maintenance
that is subsequently required. 21
 Operational Efficiency
(Use of resources / capacity)
Utilization: the ratio of the capacity actually used to the total capacity available (such as the amount of
space in a container actually occupied by a load).

Governments must be caution in using utilization data as a freight

performance measure

Empty running and under-utilization of vehicles is often justified and not

necessarily evidence of inefficiency.
22
 Operational Efficiency
(Use of resources / capacity)
Fuel efficiency

Fuel take a large share of operating costs in the freight transport sector and is the source
of all freight-related emissions.

 It is a productivity measure that shows the efficiency with which energy is converted into
the movement of freight.

 This can either be done with respect to vehicle-kms (fuel efficiency) or to a denominator
that takes account of the weight or volume of goods transported (energy intensity).
23
 Operational Efficiency
(Use of resources / capacity)
Fuel efficiency

ÞCollecting data on the fuel used by trucks can be difficult. In many countries no records
are kept of the proportions of diesel fuel going into different types of vehicle at the
point of sale.

ÞResearch has found that there can be significant contradictions in government estimates
of both truck-kms and average fuel efficiency derived in different ways
(McKinnon and Piecyk, 2010).

ÞOne must exercise caution in interpreting national level fuel economy data. 24
Service quality
(transit time, reliability)

25
 Service Quality
(Transit time, reliability)

Quantifying these variables at a national level is very difficult, because

the speed and reliability for freight services varies enormously by :

• Mode

• Carrier

• Route

• Consignment size

• Commodity type
26
 Service Quality
(Transit time, reliability)
Average weekday delay to trucks on UK trunk roads

Network performance
Average speed
Average delay per vehicle-km

Terminal performance
Average throughput time
Variability in throughput time
Efforts to improve reliability
should not concentrate only on
Cross-border performance
Average border crossing time infrastructural deficiencies but
Customs-related delays should be based on a more holistic
analysis of variability in transit
Logistics system performance time and logistical cycle time.
% of on-time deliveries
% of on-shelf availability
27
 Environmental
impact
(atmospheric emissions, noise
and accidents)

28
 Environmental impact
(atmospheric emissions, noise and accidents)
 

Distances travelled
Noxious gases:
Driver behavior
 Quality of fuel
 Vehicle engine emission standards
Maintenance levels

U.S. trends point to rapid growth in freight activity:

 Between 1990 and 2013, freight activity grew by over 50 percent and is projected to nearly
double again by 2040, producing more greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions.

 Experts project that by 2050, global freight transport emissions of CO2 will surpass emissions
from passenger vehicles. 29
 Environmental impact
(atmospheric emissions, noise and accidents)

Involvement of trucks in traffic accidents.

30
 Environmental impact
(atmospheric emissions, noise and accidents)

• The US Environmental Protection Agency set up The Smart Way program, in 2004

(Collecting, measuring, benchmarking the energy and emission data from freight carriers)

 It has proved the inspiration and model for numerous green freight initiatives that have been launched in
Europe, China, India and elsewhere in recent years.

31
32
Conclusion
 Conclusion
 Insufficient attention given to performance measurement in the freight policy-making process.

 Isolating and evaluating the effects of individual freight policy initiatives is difficult

 Different metrics give differing impressions of performance

 Ensure that metrics induce the desired behavioral response

 Major differences in the nature and amount of performance data available for different modes

 Chronic lack of volumetric data: over-reliance on weight-based statistics

 Data relate to individual freight journeys: lack a supply chain perspective

33
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION