A Disaggregate Analysis of Ocean Carriers' Transit Time Performance

Abstract

Abstract This study provides a disaggregate analysis of ocean carrier speed and reliability. The findings produce direct evidence that dramatic differences in carrier transit time and transit time reliability, also referred to collectively as transit time performance, prevail across major trade lanes. These results bring attention to transit time performance, which previous studies have shown to receive little attention from shippers, especially for ocean carrier selection. Differences in transit time performance impact not only shippers' carrier selection decisions, but also their development of effective international ocean transportation strategies. Liner ocean carriers can also use these results as a benchmark to judge how well they perform relative to the competition.