Thesis (doctoral)--University of Wales, 1992. / BLDSC reference no.: DX218364.

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In freight transportation, a waybill is an important document that contains essential information about a consignment. The focus of this thesis is on a multi-purpose electronic waybill (e-Waybill) service, which can provide the functions of a paper waybill, and which is capable of storing, at least, the information present in a paper waybill. In addition, the service can be used to support other existing Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) services by utilizing on synergies with the existing services. Additionally, information entities from the e-Waybill service are investigated for the purpose of knowledge-building concerning freight flows. A systematic review on state-of-the-art of the e-Waybill service reveals several limitations, such as limited focus on supporting ITS services. Five different conceptual e-Waybill solutions (that can be seen as abstract system designs for implementing the e-Waybill service) are proposed. The solutions are investigated for functional and technical requirements (non-functional requirements), which can potentially impose constraints on a potential system for implementing the e-Waybill service. Further, the service is investigated for information and functional synergies with other ITS services. For information synergy analysis, the required input information entities for different ITS services are identified; and if at least one information entity can be provided by an e-Waybill at the right location we regard it to be a synergy. Additionally, a service design method has been proposed for supporting the process of designing new ITS services, which primarily utilizes on functional synergies between the e-Waybill and different existing ITS services. The suggested method is applied for designing a new ITS service, i.e., the Liability Intelligent Transport System (LITS) service. The purpose of the LITS service isto support the process of identifying when and where a consignment has been damaged and who was responsible when the damage occurred. Furthermore, information entities from e-Waybills are utilized for building improved knowledge concerning freight flows. A freight and route estimation method has been proposed for building improved knowledge, e.g., in national road administrations, on the movement of trucks and freight. The results from this thesis can be used to support the choice of practical e-Waybill service implementation, which has the possibility to provide high synergy with ITS services. This may lead to a higher utilization of ITS services and more sustainable transport, e.g., in terms of reduced congestion and emissions. Furthermore, the implemented e-Waybill service can be an enabler for collecting consignment and traffic data and converting the data into useful traffic information. In particular, the service can lead to increasing amounts of digitally stored data about consignments, which can lead to improved knowledge on the movement of freight and trucks. The knowledge may be helpful when making decisions concerning road taxes, fees, and infrastructure investments.

This study deals with the road freight sector's capital structure and how leases, loans and equity affect the ratios. The study is based on a ten-year period between 2000-2010 in Sweden. Investments in finance is a complex and interesting subject to study, there are many factors that can affect how the company best choose their investments when they have many great business investment the decisions plays a greater role. The aim is to find an optimal capital structure from a financial investment point of view. The purpose will be answered by the following research question: Are there significant differences between leases, loans and equity financed fleet of factors, profitability, tax, turnover, age, and cyclicality. The study will also examine how debt is related to profit margin, DuPont and the tax, all through a regression analysis. Then were plausible economic theories for the study. These theories are the financial growth cycle, the pecking order theory, Trade off theory, and DuPont. In order to answer the purpose and problem definition, data was collected from the database retriever business where we got a sample of 121 companies. The study is based on bigger haulers that have a turnover of more than 10 million SEK and mainly engaged in road transport. The study has concluded that equity is the alternative that is best in general. To minimize the risks of the company is leasing better but generates less profit. Debt financing is better if you want a fast growth.

In my diploma thesis I focus on use of carnet TIR within international road freight transport to Russian Federation. The objective of the thesis is to introduce crisis connected with partial non-acceptance of carnet TIR in Russia and analyze the impact of this crisis to economy and forwarders. The second objective is to introduce Ukraine crisis, which also had an impact to forwarders. Finally, I will introduce a forwarder, who transports goods to Russia regularly and describe the impact of crisis on him.

This Master Thesis focuses on the American railroads as a whole. It describes the evolution of the railroads and the on-going transformation of its importance in comparison with other means of transport. Further, there are described 5 major railway companies and the state owned company Amtrak, which focuses on passenger transport. The analysis elaborates on the topic of competitivness of Amtrak in various corridors. The author is seeking the answer to the question: Is there a possible gap in the passenger transport market that Amtrak can fill?

The objective of the thesis is to demonstrate the use of valuation methods as a support for managerial decisions of enterprise liquidation. The thesis includes traditional parts of valuations such as strategic and financial analysis, value drivers analysis, which allow us to confirm or disprove going concern assumption and future liquidation. Finally, we will use valuation methods to determine the optimal timing of enterprise liquidation or possibility of business remediation.

<p>This thesis analysis four different sides of policy-making on EU-level: the Cardiff process, the white paper “European transport policy for 2010: time to decide”, the sixth Environmental Action Programme and the Sustainable Development Strategy. In those documents measures proposed for the freight transport sector are identified and used for interviews with key persons at Schenker AG. The aim with the interviews was to examine how Schenker AG was affected and felt committed by the proposed political measures. Following the arguments above the thesis discusses the role of Schenker AG in a society characterized by ecological modernization.</p>

This thesis analysis four different sides of policy-making on EU-level: the Cardiff process, the white paper “European transport policy for 2010: time to decide”, the sixth Environmental Action Programme and the Sustainable Development Strategy. In those documents measures proposed for the freight transport sector are identified and used for interviews with key persons at Schenker AG. The aim with the interviews was to examine how Schenker AG was affected and felt committed by the proposed political measures. Following the arguments above the thesis discusses the role of Schenker AG in a society characterized by ecological modernization.

Syftet med arbetet är att undersöka vad det är som hindrar företag i dagsläget från att använda intermodala godstransporter med järnvägen, där frågeställningar som arbetet kommer att besvara är: Överväger fördelarna de nackdelar som finns med användningen av intermodala godstransporter på järnvägen? Samt hur ser framtiden ut för intermodala godstransporter på järnväg? För att besvara syftet har vi använt oss av kvalitativa metoder i form av intervjuer, där intervjufrågorna utformades utifrån semistrukturerade intervjuer. Det teoretiska ramverket är uppbyggt med hjälp av vetenskapliga artiklar och indelat i fyra aspekter som anses vara viktiga för kunder och deras val av transportslag vid transport av gods. Det empiriska materialet är utformat efter intervjuer med intervjupersoner som arbetar med intermodala godstransporter och där dessa arbetar på olika företag. Det empiriska materialet har sedan ställts mot det teoretiska ramverket för att ta fram en analys, där materialet analyserades genom en tematisk analysmetod. Arbetet kom fram till resultatet att hållbarhet alltid varit en av järnvägens starkaste fördelar, men järnvägens nackdelar är de som påverkar kundernas val mest. Nackdelarna är tid och leveranssäkerhet, för att motverka dessa nackdelar krävs det att man gör investeringar i järnvägsinfrastrukturen. Dessa investeringar kan vara att bygga ut eller förbättra den nuvarande järnvägsinfrastrukturen i hopp om att få fler spår och ett starkare nätverk kommer att minimera nackdelarna så att transporterna kan utföras snabbare och effektivare. Framtiden för järnvägen är lovande om investeringar och projekt planeras rätt. Förbättringar kommer leda till att godstransporter på järnväg ökar, dock överväger fördelarna i dagsläget inte nackdelarna om man är ett företag som har tidskänsliga transporter. / The purpose of this work is to investigate what prevents companies from currently using intermodal rail transportation, where the research questions to be answered are: Do the benefits outweigh the disadvantages of using intermodal rail transportation? What does the future hold for intermodal freight transportation by rail? To address the purpose, we have utilized qualitative methods in the form of interviews, where the interview questions were designed based on semi-structured interviews. The theoretical framework is built using scientific articles and divided into four aspects considered important for customers and their choice of transport mode for the transportation of goods. The empirical material is based on interviews with interviewees working with intermodal rail freight, representing different companies. The empirical material was then compared to the theoretical framework to conduct an analysis, where the material was analyzed using thematic analysis method. The study concluded that sustainability has always been one of the strongest advantages of rail transportation, but it is the disadvantages of rail transportation that have the greatest impact on customers' choices. The disadvantages include time and delivery reliability, and to counteract these disadvantages, investments in rail infrastructure are required. These investments can involve expanding or improving the current rail infrastructure, with the hope that more tracks and a stronger network will minimize the disadvantages, allowing for faster and more efficient transportation. The future of rail transportation is promising if investments and projects are planned correctly. Improvements will lead to an increase in rail freight, but currently, if a company has time-sensitive shipments, the disadvantages outweigh the benefits.