Evaluation of quality attributes in the freight transport market. Stated preference experiments in Switzerland

Abstract

Globalization and European integration increase the claim for better quality in freight transport and logistics services. The paper focuses on the evaluation of different quality attributes of transport services in a significant segment in the Swiss freight market. The paper is based on conjoint analysis, generated by discrete binary choices between alternatives of hypothetical transport services, described by a combination of four attributes articulated on different levels. The estimated results confirm the high importance of punctuality and avoidance of damages. It could also show the statistically significant relation of the declining value of time with increasing distance.