IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/flsman/v37y2025i1d10.1007_s10696-024-09539-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

In the driver’s seat: the role of transformational leadership in safe and productive truck cargo transport

Author

Listed:
  • Alexandros Pasparakis

    (Erasmus University)

  • Jelle de Vries

    (Erasmus University)

  • René de Koster

    (Erasmus University)

  • Debjit Roy

    (Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad)

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of safety-specific transformational leadership (SSTL) on the performance outcomes of safe driving and driving productivity in both long and short-haul truck cargo transport. We conduct our study in the context of a hazardous material (HAZMAT) Indian transport company using a sample of 1,196 trips across 104 unique routes, and driven by 71 truck drivers over a 30-month span. We establish that SSTL is beneficial for truck driving productivity as it positively influences driving productivity in long-haul trips. There is no conclusive evidence of a negative effect on the productivity in short-haul trips. Furthermore, our results show that more experienced drivers are also more likely to indulge in risky driving behavior. Our findings have immediate practical applications for transport companies that wish to promote operational safety, while safeguarding and even improving operational productivity.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexandros Pasparakis & Jelle de Vries & René de Koster & Debjit Roy, 2025. "In the driver’s seat: the role of transformational leadership in safe and productive truck cargo transport," Flexible Services and Manufacturing Journal, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 1-28, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:flsman:v:37:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s10696-024-09539-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s10696-024-09539-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10696-024-09539-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10696-024-09539-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. de Vries, Jelle & de Koster, René & Rijsdijk, Serge & Roy, Debjit, 2017. "Determinants of safe and productive truck driving: Empirical evidence from long-haul cargo transport," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 113-131.
    2. Cantor, David E. & Corsi, Thomas M. & Grimm, Curtis M. & Özpolat, Koray, 2010. "A driver focused truck crash prediction model," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(5), pages 683-692, September.
    3. Castillo-Manzano, José I. & Castro-Nuño, Mercedes & Fageda, Xavier, 2016. "Exploring the relationship between truck load capacity and traffic accidents in the European Union," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 94-109.
    4. Cantor, David E. & Celebi, Heidi & Corsi, Thomas M. & Grimm, Curtis M., 2013. "Do owner–operators pose a safety risk on the nation’s highways?," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 34-47.
    5. Mokhtar, Ahmad Rais Mohamad & Genovese, Andrea & Brint, Andrew & Kumar, Niraj, 2019. "Supply chain leadership: A systematic literature review and a research agenda," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 255-273.
    6. Jelle Vries & René Koster & Daan Stam, 2016. "Safety Does Not Happen by Accident: Antecedents To A Safer Warehouse," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 25(8), pages 1377-1390, August.
    7. Dale L. Belman & Kristen A. Monaco, 2001. "The Effects of Deregulation, De-Unionization, Technology, and Human Capital on the Work and Work Lives of Truck Drivers," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 54(2A), pages 502-524, March.
    8. Siripirote, Treerapot & Sumalee, Agachai & Ho, H.W., 2020. "Statistical estimation of freight activity analytics from Global Positioning System data of trucks," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. de Vries, Jelle & de Koster, René & Rijsdijk, Serge & Roy, Debjit, 2017. "Determinants of safe and productive truck driving: Empirical evidence from long-haul cargo transport," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 113-131.
    2. Kim, Seongtae & Park, Arim & Wagner, Stephan M., 2024. "Owner-operator experience and violations in trucking: The mixed role of perceived justice," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    3. Yang, Zhiwei & Chen, Xiaohong & Deng, Jihao & Li, Tianhao & Yuan, Quan, 2023. "Footprints of goods movements: Spatial heterogeneity of heavy-duty truck activities and its influencing factors in the urban context," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    4. Chen, Liao & Ma, Shoufeng & Li, Changlin & Yang, Yuance & Wei, Wei & Cui, Runbang, 2024. "A spatial–temporal graph-based AI model for truck loan default prediction using large-scale GPS trajectory data," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    5. Dadsena, Krishna Kumar & Sarmah, S.P. & Naikan, V.N.A. & Jena, Sarat Kumar, 2019. "Optimal budget allocation for risk mitigation strategy in trucking industry: An integrated approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 37-55.
    6. Castillo-Manzano, José I. & Castro-Nuño, Mercedes & Fageda, Xavier, 2016. "Exploring the relationship between truck load capacity and traffic accidents in the European Union," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 94-109.
    7. Yang, Yitao & Jia, Bin & Yan, Xiao-Yong & Li, Jiangtao & Yang, Zhenzhen & Gao, Ziyou, 2022. "Identifying intercity freight trip ends of heavy trucks from GPS data," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    8. Juan Guillermo Urzúa-Morales & Juan Pedro Sepulveda-Rojas & Miguel Alfaro & Guillermo Fuertes & Rodrigo Ternero & Manuel Vargas, 2020. "Logistic Modeling of the Last Mile: Case Study Santiago, Chile," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-18, January.
    9. Thanos Fragkandreas, 2022. "Three Decades of Research on Innovation and Inequality: Causal Scenarios, Explanatory Factors, and Suggestions," Working Papers 60, Birkbeck Centre for Innovation Management Research, revised Feb 2022.
    10. Berger, Thor & Chen, Chinchih & Frey, Carl Benedikt, 2018. "Drivers of disruption? Estimating the Uber effect," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 197-210.
    11. Jason R. W. Merrick & Claire A. Dorsey & Bo Wang & Martha Grabowski & John R. Harrald, 2022. "Measuring Prediction Accuracy in a Maritime Accident Warning System," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(2), pages 819-827, February.
    12. Jianlan Zhong & Han Cheng & Fu Jia, 2024. "Supply chain resilience capability factors in agri-food supply chains," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 850-868, September.
    13. Batabyal, Amitrajeet, 2015. "Winter Transport via Trucks with Chains and the Fraction of Time Spent in Accidents," MPRA Paper 71451, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Burks, Stephen V. & Carpenter, Jeffrey P. & Götte, Lorenz & Monaco, Kristen & Porter, Kay & Rustichini, Aldo, 2007. "Using Behavioral Economic Experiments at a Large Motor Carrier: The Context and Design of the Truckers and Turnover Project," IZA Discussion Papers 2789, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Seongtae Kim & Sangho Chae & Stephan M. Wagner & Jason W. Miller, 2022. "Buyer abusive behavior and supplier welfare: An empirical study of truck owner–operators," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 58(4), pages 90-111, October.
    16. Adro, Francisco do & Franco, Mário, 2020. "Rural and agri-entrepreneurial networks: A qualitative case study," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    17. Natália Monteiro, 2009. "Regulatory reform and labour earnings in Portuguese banking," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 36(3), pages 557-574, June.
    18. Xu Lijuan & Zhang Mengze & Abdullayeva Irada, 2022. "Improving the Supply Chain Management," Foundations of Management, Sciendo, vol. 14(1), pages 127-142, January.
    19. Rommel E. Maulanin & Ernesto A. Serrano & Antonio R. Yango, 2023. "Leadership communication styles, information sharing and performance among selected supply chain managers of private companies," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 44(1), pages 853-873, June.
    20. Liu, Weihua & Wei, Wanying & Choi, Tsan-Ming & Yan, Xiaoyu, 2022. "Impacts of leadership on corporate social responsibility management in multi-tier supply chains," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 299(2), pages 483-496.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:flsman:v:37:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s10696-024-09539-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.