IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlogis/v5y2021i2p37-d571592.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Using Blockchain Technology to Foster Collaboration among Shippers and Carriers in the Trucking Industry: A Design Science Research Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Serkan Alacam

    (Department of Management Information Systems, Bogazici University, Bebek, Istanbul 34342, Turkey)

  • Asli Sencer

    (Department of Management Information Systems, Bogazici University, Bebek, Istanbul 34342, Turkey)

Abstract

In the global trucking industry, vertical collaboration between shippers and carriers is attained by intermediaries, called brokers. Brokers organize carriers for a shipper in accordance with its quality and price requirements, and support carriers to collaborate horizontally by sharing a large distribution order from a shipper. Brokers also act as trustees, preventing the passing of private information of any party to the others. Despite these benefits, intermediaries in the trucking industry are involved in several sustainability problems, including high costs, high levels of carbon emissions, high percentages of empty miles, low-capacity utilizations, and driver shortages. Several studies have acknowledged the importance of improving collaboration to address these problems. Obviously, the major concern of brokers is not collaboration, but rather to optimize their own gains. This paper investigates the potential of blockchain technology to improve collaboration in the trucking industry, by eliminating brokers while preserving their responsibilities as organizers and trustees. This paper extends the transportation control tower concept from the logistics literature, and presents a system architecture for its implementation through smart contracts on a blockchain network. In the proposed system, the scalability and privacy of trucking operations are ensured through integration with privacy-preserving off-chain computation and storage solutions (running outside of the blockchain). The potential of this design artifact for fostering collaboration in the trucking industry was evaluated by both blockchain technology experts and trucking industry professionals.

Suggested Citation

  • Serkan Alacam & Asli Sencer, 2021. "Using Blockchain Technology to Foster Collaboration among Shippers and Carriers in the Trucking Industry: A Design Science Research Approach," Logistics, MDPI, vol. 5(2), pages 1-24, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlogis:v:5:y:2021:i:2:p:37-:d:571592
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6290/5/2/37/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6290/5/2/37/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nagarajan, Mahesh & Sosic, Greys, 2008. "Game-theoretic analysis of cooperation among supply chain agents: Review and extensions," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 187(3), pages 719-745, June.
    2. Shenle Pan & Damien Trentesaux & Eric Ballot & George Q. Huang, 2019. "Horizontal collaborative transport: survey of solutions and practical implementation issues," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(15-16), pages 5340-5361, August.
    3. Mark Armstrong & Jidong Zhou, 2011. "Paying for Prominence," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(556), pages 368-395, November.
    4. Vergara, Hector A. & Root, Sarah, 2013. "Mixed fleet dispatching in truckload relay network design optimization," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 32-49.
    5. Sari, Kazim, 2010. "Exploring the impacts of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology on supply chain performance," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 207(1), pages 174-183, November.
    6. Antonello Ignazio Croce & Giuseppe Musolino & Corrado Rindone & Antonino Vitetta, 2020. "Route and Path Choices of Freight Vehicles: A Case Study with Floating Car Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-15, October.
    7. Frisk, M. & Göthe-Lundgren, M. & Jörnsten, K. & Rönnqvist, M., 2010. "Cost allocation in collaborative forest transportation," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 205(2), pages 448-458, September.
    8. Shenle Pan & Damien Trentesaux & Eric Ballot & George Q. Huang, 2019. "Horizontal collaborative transport: survey of solutions and practical implementation issues," Post-Print hal-02008934, HAL.
    9. Cruijssen, Frans & Cools, Martine & Dullaert, Wout, 2007. "Horizontal cooperation in logistics: Opportunities and impediments," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 129-142, March.
    10. Demir, Emrah & Huang, Yuan & Scholts, Sebastiaan & Van Woensel, Tom, 2015. "A selected review on the negative externalities of the freight transportation: Modeling and pricing," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 95-114.
    11. Cao, Mei & Zhang, Qingyu, 2010. "Supply chain collaborative advantage: A firm's perspective," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(1), pages 358-367, November.
    12. Lóránt Tavasszy, 2018. "Innovation and Technology in Multimodal Supply Chains," International Transport Forum Discussion Papers 2018/18, OECD Publishing.
    13. Croce, Antonello Ignazio & Musolino, Giuseppe & Rindone, Corrado & Vitetta, Antonino, 2019. "Sustainable mobility and energy resources: A quantitative assessment of transport services with electrical vehicles," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1-1.
    14. Yanyan Yang & Shenle Pan & Eric Ballot, 2017. "Innovative vendor-managed inventory strategy exploiting interconnected logistics services in the Physical Internet," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(9), pages 2685-2702, May.
    15. Andrei Hagiu & Bruno Jullien, 2011. "Why do intermediaries divert search?," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 42(2), pages 337-362, June.
    16. Halit Üster & Panitan Kewcharoenwong, 2011. "Strategic Design and Analysis of a Relay Network in Truckload Transportation," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 45(4), pages 505-523, November.
    17. James F. Campbell, 2005. "Strategic Network Design for Motor Carriers," Springer Books, in: André Langevin & Diane Riopel (ed.), Logistics Systems: Design and Optimization, chapter 0, pages 245-278, Springer.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Büşra Ayan & Elif Güner & Semen Son-Turan, 2022. "Blockchain Technology and Sustainability in Supply Chains and a Closer Look at Different Industries: A Mixed Method Approach," Logistics, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-39, December.
    2. Giovanna Centorrino & Guido Noto & Daniela Rupo, 2022. "Management control in inter-firm relationships: Opportunities and challenges of blockchain technology adoption," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2022(3), pages 65-88.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nassim Mrabti & Nadia Hamani & Laurent Delahoche, 2022. "A Comprehensive Literature Review on Sustainable Horizontal Collaboration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-38, September.
    2. Soriano, Adria & Gansterer, Margaretha & Hartl, Richard F., 2023. "The multi-depot vehicle routing problem with profit fairness," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    3. Soriano, Adria & Gansterer, Margaretha & Hartl, Richard F., 2022. "Reprint of: The multi-depot vehicle routing problem with profit fairness," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 250(C).
    4. Hacardiaux, Thomas & Defryn, Christof & Tancrez, Jean-Sébastien & Verdonck, Lotte, 2020. "Balancing partner preferences for logistics costs and carbon footprint in a horizontal cooperation," Research Memorandum 002, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).
    5. Thomas Hacardiaux & Christof Defryn & Jean-Sébastien Tancrez & Lotte Verdonck, 2022. "Balancing partner preferences for logistics costs and carbon footprint in a horizontal cooperation," OR Spectrum: Quantitative Approaches in Management, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research e.V., vol. 44(1), pages 121-153, March.
    6. Kidd, Martin P. & Borm, Peter, 2021. "On Determining Leading Coalitions in Supply Chains: Methodology and Application," Discussion Paper 2021-009, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    7. Mancini, Simona & Gansterer, Margaretha & Hartl, Richard F., 2021. "The collaborative consistent vehicle routing problem with workload balance," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 293(3), pages 955-965.
    8. Amiri, Mosleh & Farvaresh, Hamid, 2023. "Carrier collaboration with the simultaneous presence of transferable and non-transferable utilities," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 304(2), pages 596-617.
    9. Defryn, Christof & Sörensen, Kenneth & Cornelissens, Trijntje, 2016. "The selective vehicle routing problem in a collaborative environment," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 250(2), pages 400-411.
    10. Shenle Pan, 2019. "Opportunities of Product-Service System in Physical Internet," Post-Print hal-02155622, HAL.
    11. DEFRYN, Christof & SÖRENSEN, Kenneth & CORNELISSENS, Trijntje, 2015. "The selective vehicle routing problem in a collaborative environment," Working Papers 2015006, University of Antwerp, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    12. Zhang, Qihuan & Wang, Ziteng & Huang, Min & Yu, Yang & Fang, Shu-Cherng, 2022. "Heterogeneous multi-depot collaborative vehicle routing problem," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 1-20.
    13. Dirk Bergemann & Alessandro Bonatti, 2024. "Data, Competition, and Digital Platforms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 114(8), pages 2553-2595, August.
    14. Padilla Tinoco, Silvia Valeria & Creemers, Stefan & Boute, Robert N., 2017. "Collaborative shipping under different cost-sharing agreements," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 263(3), pages 827-837.
    15. Fei Long & Kinshuk Jerath & Miklos Sarvary, 2022. "Designing an Online Retail Marketplace: Leveraging Information from Sponsored Advertising," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 41(1), pages 115-138, January.
    16. Gansterer, Margaretha & Födermayr, Patrick & Hartl, Richard F., 2021. "The capacitated multi-level lot-sizing problem with distributed agents," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
    17. Grigoriev, Alexander & Jung, Verena & Peeters - Rutten, Marianne & Vredeveld, Tjark, 2017. "On the Acceptance of Gain Sharing Methods in Supply Chain Collaboration," Research Memorandum 024, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).
    18. Islem Snoussi & Nadia Hamani & Nassim Mrabti & Lyes Kermad, 2021. "A Robust Mixed-Integer Linear Programming Model for Sustainable Collaborative Distribution," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(18), pages 1-27, September.
    19. LAMAS, ALEJANDRO & CHEVALIER, Philippe, 2013. "Jumping the hurdles for collaboration: fairness in operations pooling in the absence of transfer payments," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2013073, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    20. Burguet, Roberto & Caminal, Ramon & Ellman, Matthew, 2015. "In Google we trust?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 44-55.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlogis:v:5:y:2021:i:2:p:37-:d:571592. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.