An Investigation of the Irish Road Haulage Industry’s External Environment

Edward Sweeney, Eoin Plant, Allen Declan

Research output: Chapter in Book/Published conference outputConference publication

Abstract

The movement of goods is of critical importance to an economy, especially one, which is dependent on international trade such as Ireland. Considering Irelands distribution of manufacturing and other organisations throughout the country, many firms are dependent upon road haulage effectiveness and efficiency.
In recent times there has been somewhat of a growing unease in the road haulage industry in relation to increasing cost, squeezing profit margins even tighter. An understanding of the Irish road haulier’s business environment would undoubtedly shed greater light onto their situation. The paper addresses this issue with an analysis of the industry’s competitive environment.
The first step of the research methodology was an intensive search for pertinent literature, from which a limited amount of information was obtained. A confined amount of primary research was then carried out. Purposive sampling was used to establish the required respondents. The techniques used were the research conversation approach in combination with semi-structured interviews. Following this a structured postal questionnaire was issued to obtain quantitative statistics. The preliminary results of which are outlined.
The analysis identifies a number of issues within the Irish road haulage industry. The paper concludes with the findings that the Irish road haulage industry is at present a brutally competitive environment due to its fragmented nature and the power of its customers. It also identifies the need for further research in order to establish the validity of certain points and issues.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 8th Annual Conference of the Logistics Research Network
EditorsDavid A. Menachof, et al
Pages372-375
Number of pages4
Publication statusPublished - 2003
Event8th annual conference of the Logistics Research Network - London, United Kingdom
Duration: 1 Sept 20032 Sept 2003

Conference

Conference8th annual conference of the Logistics Research Network
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CityLondon
Period1/09/032/09/03

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  • ICT adoption by logistics service providers: developing a learning agenda

    Evangelista, P. & Sweeney, E., 2003, Proceedings of the 8th Annual Conference of the Logistics Research Network. Menachof, D. A. & et al (eds.). p. 118-125 8 p.

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Published conference outputConference publication

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