An analytic approach to the analysis and selection of transport services

The strategic importance of logistics is steadily increasing and a logistical approach is needed to achieve competitive advantage. Transportation is one of the most important logistics activities with significant impacts on both customer service and logistics costs. As more and more companies are outsourcing transport services, the selection of the most effective transport mode and the corresponding carriers providing the services has become one of the most fundamental parts of logistics strategic planning. In this paper, the authors develop an analytic hierarchy process-based decision support system (DSS) for transport services selection supporting the following four main phases of the decision process: (1) intelligence/problem recognition; (2) design/search; (3) choice; and (4) review/postchoice evaluation