The impact of COVID-19 on transport volume and freight capacity dynamics: An empirical analysis in German food retail logistics
Governmental restrictions aspiring to slow down the spread of epidemic and pandemic outbreaks lead to impairments for economic operations, which impact transportation networks comprising the maritime, rail, air, and trucking industries. Witnessing a substantial increase in the number of infections i...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2020-07-01
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| Series: | Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198220300762 |
| _version_ | 1818449151020498944 |
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| author | Dominic Loske |
| author_facet | Dominic Loske |
| author_sort | Dominic Loske |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Governmental restrictions aspiring to slow down the spread of epidemic and pandemic outbreaks lead to impairments for economic operations, which impact transportation networks comprising the maritime, rail, air, and trucking industries. Witnessing a substantial increase in the number of infections in Germany, the authorities have imposed drastic restrictions on everyday life. Resulting panic buying and increasing home consumption had versatile impacts on transport volume and freight capacity dynamics in German food retail logistics. Due to the lack of prior research on the effects of COVID-19 on transport volume in retail logistics, as well as resulting implications, this article aspires to shed light on the phenomenon of changing volume and capacity dynamics in road haulage. After analyzing the transport volume of n = 15,715 routes in the timeframe of 23.03.2020 to 30.04.2020, a transport volume growth rate expressing the difference of real and expected transport volume was calculated. This ratio was then examined concerning the number of COVID-19 infections per day. The results of this study prove that the increasing freight volume for dry products in retail logistics does not depend on the duration of the COVID-19 epidemy but on the strength quantified through the total number of new infections per day. This causes a conflict of interest between transportation companies and food retail logistics for non-cooled transport capacity. The contributions of this paper are highly relevant to assess the impact of a possibly occurring second COVID-19 virus infection wave. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T20:30:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-179be771333a41e1816a54d313468d8a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2590-1982 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T20:30:51Z |
| publishDate | 2020-07-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives |
| spelling | doaj.art-179be771333a41e1816a54d313468d8a2022-12-21T22:48:31ZengElsevierTransportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives2590-19822020-07-016100165The impact of COVID-19 on transport volume and freight capacity dynamics: An empirical analysis in German food retail logisticsDominic Loske0UCAM Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia, Av. de los Jerónimos, 135, 30107 Guadalupe, Murcia, Spain; Institute for Logistics and Service Management, FOM University of Applied Sciences, Essen, GermanyGovernmental restrictions aspiring to slow down the spread of epidemic and pandemic outbreaks lead to impairments for economic operations, which impact transportation networks comprising the maritime, rail, air, and trucking industries. Witnessing a substantial increase in the number of infections in Germany, the authorities have imposed drastic restrictions on everyday life. Resulting panic buying and increasing home consumption had versatile impacts on transport volume and freight capacity dynamics in German food retail logistics. Due to the lack of prior research on the effects of COVID-19 on transport volume in retail logistics, as well as resulting implications, this article aspires to shed light on the phenomenon of changing volume and capacity dynamics in road haulage. After analyzing the transport volume of n = 15,715 routes in the timeframe of 23.03.2020 to 30.04.2020, a transport volume growth rate expressing the difference of real and expected transport volume was calculated. This ratio was then examined concerning the number of COVID-19 infections per day. The results of this study prove that the increasing freight volume for dry products in retail logistics does not depend on the duration of the COVID-19 epidemy but on the strength quantified through the total number of new infections per day. This causes a conflict of interest between transportation companies and food retail logistics for non-cooled transport capacity. The contributions of this paper are highly relevant to assess the impact of a possibly occurring second COVID-19 virus infection wave.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198220300762COVID-19Pandemic diseaseRetail logisticsTransport volumeFreight capacity |
| spellingShingle | Dominic Loske The impact of COVID-19 on transport volume and freight capacity dynamics: An empirical analysis in German food retail logistics Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives COVID-19 Pandemic disease Retail logistics Transport volume Freight capacity |
| title | The impact of COVID-19 on transport volume and freight capacity dynamics: An empirical analysis in German food retail logistics |
| title_full | The impact of COVID-19 on transport volume and freight capacity dynamics: An empirical analysis in German food retail logistics |
| title_fullStr | The impact of COVID-19 on transport volume and freight capacity dynamics: An empirical analysis in German food retail logistics |
| title_full_unstemmed | The impact of COVID-19 on transport volume and freight capacity dynamics: An empirical analysis in German food retail logistics |
| title_short | The impact of COVID-19 on transport volume and freight capacity dynamics: An empirical analysis in German food retail logistics |
| title_sort | impact of covid 19 on transport volume and freight capacity dynamics an empirical analysis in german food retail logistics |
| topic | COVID-19 Pandemic disease Retail logistics Transport volume Freight capacity |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198220300762 |
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