Organization and subcontracting relationships in French road haulage

Today road haulage is France's most important transport mode, proving its ability to meet shippers' demands. Road haulage has several success factors, some of which are technical (for example, the speed and density of the motorway and road network). Others are economic (the low price or road transport). Last but not least, relationships among road hauliers play a major role in competitiveness. Among other factors, the opportunity that large companies have to subcontract with very small ones, with very low fixed costs and great flexibility, is often quoted as a major advantage. The ECHO survey, conducted in France in 2004, provides information on 10 000 shipments made by 3000 shippers. For each shipment, the survey gives details about the shipper, the shipment itself, and each company providing transport or logistics services for that shipment. The survey allows us to analyze subcontracting, by showing us each stage at which a shipment is contracted to the next carrier. This analysis reveals the frequency of subcontracting in France, and gives us the opportunity to study why subcontracts are made. Of course, some of the subcontracts are mainly cost driven. However, others aim at using the specialized skills of a particular haulier (a frequent service to a given destination, for example). Finally, the aim of some subcontracts is to increase transport chain efficiency. The usual transport segments are studied : single parcel delivery service, parcel delivery service, less than truck load, full truck load. The share of shipments and the number of tonnes which fall under the purview of subcontracting are studied. For each transport segment, subcontracting is described in terms of size of companies involved, services provided, and the reason for subcontracting. These results demonstrate the main features of several different types of subcontracting relationships. Beyond the search for low costs, the paper highlights the various forms of partnership between road hauliers.