Transport sector as a whole records growing trend, whereas road transport has recorded the biggest growth of transported goods. An increase in international trade brings more opportunities for firms involved in the haulage industry. The aim of this thesis is to show the basic requirements in order to set up the haulage and forwarding business. I will mention various factors, that influence the transport market. In other chapters I will analyze laws and treaties, which every haulage company has to adhere to. The last chapter is devoted to problems of financing truck fleet. In the end there is a summary of ways on how to tackle and reduce non-payment by clients.

Bachelor thesis in Logistics Management, School of Management and Economics, Växjö University, EKL 361, Spring 2006-05-24 Authors: Jesper Ericsson, Olov Nordgren, Henrik Frick Tutor: Åsa Gustafsson/ Helena Forslund Examiner: Helena Forslund Title: Road cabotage in the Swedish haulage industry Author supplied keywords: Transportation, European Union, Haulage Company, Road Cabotage, Five Forces Model and Generic Strategies. Background: In 1998 the European Union introduced the concept of free road cabotage. The concept implies that haulers from different Member States are allowed to perform domestic transportation in another Member State as long as it is conducted on a temporary basis. The introduction of cabotage has given rise to new competitive conditions on domestic markets within the European Union. Not all haulage companies within the European Union have the same competitive prerequisites. Swedish haulers have a high cost structure in comparison with foreign haulers and therefore it is interesting to see how they are affected by cabotage. Research Questions: o How do Swedish haulers perceive cabotage in their industry and how do they manage it today? o Which improvements can be achieved strategically to sustain and/or improve Swedish haulers’ competitive situation towards foreign haulers? Purpose: The objective of this bachelor thesis is to investigate how Swedish haulers’ are affected by competition concerning road cabotage. Depending on how they are affected by road cabotage we also intend to present strategic improvements that can sustain and/or improve their competitive ability. Methodology: Survey on three haulage companies Theoretical Framework: For our first research question we have chosen to present the concept of cabotage to enlighten readers. To be able to understand what characterises the Swedish haulage industry we have chosen Porter’s Five Forces Model as a foundation. The results from the Five Forces Model are used as inputs to the theories concerning Porter’s generic strategy. Conclusions: Through this bachelor thesis we have concluded that Swedish haulers are in different ways affected by road cabotage. Depending on their type of business, they are more or less affected by cabotage. Through differentiation Swedish haulers can sustain and improve their competitive situation. The differentiation should be focused on issues regarding markets, customers, and specific service characteristics that are difficult for foreign competitors to imitate.

<p>Bachelor thesis in Logistics Management, School of Management and Economics, Växjö University, EKL 361, Spring 2006-05-24</p><p>Authors: Jesper Ericsson, Olov Nordgren, Henrik Frick</p><p>Tutor: Åsa Gustafsson/ Helena Forslund</p><p>Examiner: Helena Forslund</p><p>Title: Road cabotage in the Swedish haulage industry</p><p>Author supplied keywords: Transportation, European Union, Haulage Company, Road Cabotage, Five Forces Model and Generic Strategies.</p><p>Background: In 1998 the European Union introduced the concept of free road cabotage. The concept implies that haulers from different Member States are allowed to perform domestic transportation in another Member State as long as it is conducted on a temporary basis. The introduction of cabotage has given rise to new competitive conditions on domestic markets within the European Union. Not all haulage companies within the European Union have the same competitive prerequisites. Swedish haulers have a high cost structure in comparison with foreign haulers and therefore it is interesting to see how they are affected by cabotage.</p><p>Research Questions:</p><p>o How do Swedish haulers perceive cabotage in their industry and how do they manage it today?</p><p>o Which improvements can be achieved strategically to sustain and/or improve Swedish haulers’ competitive situation towards foreign haulers?</p><p>Purpose: The objective of this bachelor thesis is to investigate how Swedish haulers’ are affected by competition concerning road cabotage. Depending on how they are affected by road cabotage we also intend to present strategic improvements that can sustain and/or improve their competitive ability.</p><p>Methodology: Survey on three haulage companies</p><p>Theoretical Framework: For our first research question we have chosen to present the concept of cabotage to enlighten readers. To be able to understand what characterises the Swedish haulage industry we have chosen Porter’s Five Forces Model as a foundation. The results from the Five Forces Model are used as inputs to the theories concerning Porter’s generic strategy.</p><p>Conclusions: Through this bachelor thesis we have concluded that Swedish haulers are in different ways affected by road cabotage. Depending on their type of business, they are more or less affected by cabotage. Through differentiation Swedish haulers can sustain and improve their competitive situation. The differentiation should be focused on issues regarding markets, customers, and specific service characteristics that are difficult for foreign competitors to imitate.</p>

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M.Phil. / In an ever - increasing competitive business world it is essential to optimise the replacement of expensive mining equipment. The decisions regarding the replacement of assets used in a coal mine are usually based on life cycle costing models. Financial methods such as Net Present Value, Internal Rate of Return or Payback are applied to determine the feasibility of replacement of the asset. Whereas these methods and other models such as life cycle costing, challenger / defender and the Non-Homogeneous Poisson Process models can be applied in most cases, it is deemed to be insufficient as the sole decision making tool for the replacement of mining equipment. The development of another tool to assist in the decision making process is required for specific use by the engineer to be used in conjunction with the traditional financial models. Key performance indicators are used extensively in the mining industry to manage the performance of equipment and are deemed to be essential components in achieving the organisation's objectives. There are certain limitations when using only the traditional financial life cycle costing methods when viewed from the engineer's perspective, since they do not directly incorporate the level of the maintenance function and the performance effectiveness of the asset. The engineer usually requires more insight into the performance of the asset to assess the feasibility of replacement, hence the need for an additional tool that incorporates these key performance indicators. In most cases there are relationships between the various key performance indicators themselves as well as between them and the operating and maintenance cost of the asset. The key performance indicators used are availability, reliability (mean time to failure), maintainability (mean time to repair) and the operability (tons per direct operating hour). There are certain factors that may lead to the excessive operating and maintenance cost of an asset, especially if there is no investigation into the reasons for the excessive cost. Examples are sub-standard maintenance practices and an insufficient level of service from suppliers. Both are issues that can be resolved with a consequent decrease in the cost of ownership of the asset. Cost as the only indicator of the feasibility of replacement may therefore not be a true reflection of the real status of the performance of the asset. Weighting factors are used to allocate values to the key performance indicators in terms of their contribution towards achieving the organisational objectives. The equipment effectiveness is derived from these values to give an indication of how well the equipment is performing against predetermined benchmarks. This dissertation attempts tb find a solution to the problem through the use of the key performance indicators in addition to the existing models that focus on the financial aspect in order to provide a more accurate assessment of the replacement requirement of an asset in an opencast coal mine.

In this contemporary world, when the globalization is on the first place, is possible to satisfy one's needs immediately. Road haulage becomes in last few years a significant market's part, which is necessary to the right function in all branches in the Czech Republic. The aim of this thesis is to analyse level of principle operation's research's support in TASW solution for the society, which is directed at road transport. Simultaneously I project a study, which supports a solution for small shippers, who aren't able or willing to acquire an expensive software for haulage entrepreneurship. I characterize issues of transportation's company to achieve my aim and I think about the principle's uses and method of operation's research in process of haulage entrepreneurship. I analyse a situation of operation's research's support with TASW, which is oriented on haulage entrepreneurship. After that I describe a study, where I project a solution for small shippers, which takes in the consideration the components of operation's research in their processes and TASW and this contributes to make the decision of small shippers easier to buy the suitable software for haulage. This thesis is divided into few parts -- at the begging I theoretically follow up haulage entrepreneurship, its division and kind of current freight. I describe the price creation to make really obvious, which knowledge the shipper have to know. I explain particular disciplines of research's operation, which are connected to make more effective the workings of haulage entrepreneurship. I use these results of the theoretical parts to create my own model of haulage entrepreneurship. I analyse the market's system in the Czech market, which is fixed to support process of haulage entrepreneurship, which applies the principles of operation's research. In conclusion I compare the variants of using different types of IS for transport. The biggest benefit of my thesis I see in that also the laymen can understand it. It makes easier to choose a specialized software for haulage entrepreneurship and the process analyse binding on possibly company's analyse and on field operation's research, which enable more effective delivery.

Simplified life cycle assessment (LCA) method quickly delivers an estimation of the product’s life- cycle impacts without intense data requirements, which are taken as a practical tool in the early stage of product development (PD) to support sustainable decisions. However, obstacles are to integrate the LCA tool efficiently and effectively into the designers’ daily workflows. To give a comprehensive overview of the potential challenges in integrating simplified LCA software to vehicle PD processes, the research conducts accessibility, intrinsic, contextual and representational data quality evaluation of the two vehicle-LCA software, Granta Selector and the Modular-LCA Kit, by the means of interviews, case studies and usability testing. From the four data quality evaluation, the results demonstrate (1) the importance of the company’s collaboration with the software developers to ensure the software’s accessibility; (2) the data accuracy constraints of the software due to the generic database and over-simplified methods; (3) the vehicle designer engineers reactions in the two software’s data fulfilments in conducting the complicated vehicle LCA models; and (4) the LCA results’ effectiveness in supporting sustainable design decisions. Overall, the two simplified LCA software’s reliability is sufficient merely in the very beginning stage of PD while the user satisfaction and effectiveness of the simplified LCA data are positive for the design engineers with a basic level of sustainability knowledge. Still, there is a need of systematic strategies in integrating the software into PD processes. A three-pillar strategy that covers the approaches of company administrative policy, software management, and promotion, and LCA and vehicle data life-cycle management could tackle the data gaps and limitations of the software and company. Based on this strategy, the research proposes an example roadmap for Scania. / Genom en förenklad livscykelanalys(LCA), kan man tidigt i produktutvecklingen få en indikation över ett fordons miljöpåverkan. Analysen kan agera som ett verktyg för att ge stöd till mer hållbara beslut i produktutvecklingen. En svårighet ligger dock i att integrera LCA i designers dagliga arbetsflöde på ett effektivt sätt. För att skapa en översikt av Scanias utvecklare och designers LCA- datakrav för hållbar fordonsutveckling genomfördes en datakvalitetsutvärdering (“accessibility, intrinsic, contextual, and representational”) av två LCA-programvaror, Granta Selector och Modular-LCA-kit. Från detta kunde en strategi och handlingsplan tas fram för implementering av LCA-programvara inom fordonsutveckling. Resultaten indikerar att programvarornas tillförlitlighet endast är tillräckliga i ett tidigt skede i produktutvecklingen. Dessutom varierar användarnas tillfredsställelse och effektiviteten av programvarans förenklade data utifrån designerns kunskapsnivå inom hållbarhet. För att ha en framgångsrik integrering av LCA-programvaran i fordonskonstruktionen, utvecklades en strategi med tre pelare. Dessa täcker Scanias företagspolicy och mjukvaruhantering samt hanteringen av livscykel inventariet och BOM-data, för att hantera brister i dataseten men även begränsningar hos programvaran och företaget. Baserat på denna strategi presenteras en möjlig handlingsplan för Scania.

The concept of encumbered space is recognized and defined. The components and their subcomponents are identified and isolated. The relative interactions between them are noted. Initial families of velocity-clearance curves for several haulage media are derived, noting the vital need for future research. The basic assumption that production is proportional to the product of capacity and velocity is utilized and the concept of derating the maximum theoretical production rate of an underground mining situation to obtain a more realistic estimate of the actual production rate is introduced. An example of the use of derating factors (derived from the results of questionnaires) in obtaining an estimate of production is presented. An order of magnitude check is made on the weighting of the initially selected derating factors. Results proved to be consistent, confirming the approach. Recommendations for future research are made. / Master of Science

The Normal Accident Theory (NAT) attempts to understand why accidents occur in systems with high-risk technologies. NAT is characterized by two attributes: complexity and coupling. The combination of these attributes results in unplanned and unintended catastrophic consequences. High-risk technology systems that are complex and tightly coupled have a high probability of experiencing system failures. The mining industry has experienced significant incidents involving haulage operations up to and including severe injuries and fatalities. Although the mining industry has dramatically reduced fatalities and lost time accidents over the last three decades or more, accidents still continue to persist. For example, for the years 1998 - 2002, haulage operations in surface mines alone have accounted for over 40% of all accidents in the mining industry. The systems thinking was applied as an approach to qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate NAT in mining haulage operations. A measurement index was developed to measure this complexity. The results from the index measurements indicated a high degree of complexity that exists in haulage transfer systems than compared to loading and unloading systems. Additionally, several lines of evidence also point to the applicability of NAT in mining systems. They include strong organizational management or safety system does not guarantee zero accidents, complexity is exhibited in mining systems, and they are interactive and tightly coupled systems. Finally, the complexity of these systems were assessed with results indicating that a large number of accidents occur when there are between 4 or 5 causal factors. These factors indicate the degree of complexity necessary before accidents begin to occur.

Trucks are responsible for the major part of inland freight and so, they are a backbone of the modern economy but they are also a large consumer of energy. In this context, a dominating vehicle is a truck with heavy load on a long trip. The aim with look-ahead control is to reduce the energy consumption of heavy vehicles by utilizing information about future conditions focusing on the road topography ahead of the vehicle. The possible gains with look-ahead control are evaluated by performing experiments with a truck on highway. A real-time control system based on receding horizon control (RHC) is set up where the optimization problem is solved repeatedly on-line for a certain horizon ahead of the vehicle. The experimental results show that significant reductions of the fuel consumption are achieved, and that the controller structure, where the algorithm calculates set points fed to lower level controllers, has satisfactory robustness to perform well on-board in a real environment. Moreover, the controller behavior has the preferred property of being intuitive, and the behavior is perceived as comfortable and natural by participating drivers and passengers. A well-behaved and efficient algorithm is developed, based on dynamic programing, for the mixed-integer nonlinear minimum-fuel problem. A modeling framework is formulated where special attention is given to properly include gear shifting with physical models. Fuel equivalents are used to reformulate the problem into a tractable form and to construct a residual cost enabling the use of a shorter horizon ahead of the vehicle. Analysis of errors due to discretization of the continuous dynamics and due to interpolation shows that an energy formulation is beneficial for reducing both error sources. The result is an algorithm giving accurate solutions with low computational effort for use in an on-board controller for a fuel-optimal velocity profile and gear selection. The prevailing approach for the look-ahead problem is RHC where main topics are the approximation of the residual cost and the choice of the horizon length. These two topics are given a thorough investigation independent of the method of solving the optimal control problem in each time step. The basis for the fuel equivalents and the residual cost is formed from physical intuition as well as mathematical interpretations in terms of the Lagrange multipliers used in optimization theory. Measures for suboptimality are introduced that enables choosing horizon length with the appropriate compromise between fuel consumption and trip time. Control of a hybrid electric powertrain is put in the framework together with control of velocity and gear. For an efficient solution of the minimum-fuel problem in this case, more fuel equivalence factors and an energy formulation are employed. An application is demonstrated in a design study where it is shown how the optimal trade-off between size and capacity of the electrical system depends on road characteristics, and also that a modestly sized electrical system achieves most of the gain. The contributions develop algorithms, create associated design tools, and carry out experiments. Altogether, a feasible framework is achieved that pave the way for on-board fuel-optimal look-ahead control.